Property round-up: Triton Construction; Corporate Travel Management; Prime Property; TMT; The Hive
Triton Construction has secured a £3.5m contract to deliver the first of three commercial development phases at The Mills in Hollinwood, Oldham.
Site owner, The Mills Hollinwood, has appointed Triton to deliver a speculative 20,000 sq ft, office building comprising three floors of flexible accommodation.
The 4.5 acre disused site, strategically located just off Junction 22 of the M60 and adjacent to Metrolink Hollinwood Tram Station, will ultimately comprise seven new office buildings of varying size. The development will be delivered in three phases over the next three years.
Triton has now started construction on site to deliver the first building, named the Annie Kennedy Mill after the famous Oldham-born suffragette hero. It will offer 20,000 sq ft which could be split into six office suites ranging from 2,130 sq ft to 3,758 sq ft.
Triton, which has a Warrington base, is delivering the full turnkey solution with full internal fit out, M&E as well as new civils infrastructure for site access, landscaping, security and external lighting.
Managing director, Paul Clarkson, said: “We hope to be able to deliver further phases for this development which is a great boost for our North West office which continues to go from strength to strength. In the last 12 months we have grown the regional operation by around 30% with contracts including the refurbishment of the iconic Royal Liver building, Mersey Reach for Chancerygate and ongoing new developments for SureStore.”
Su Schofield at The Mills Hollinwood, said: ‘We are really keen to invest in the Hollinwood area, so it is exciting to finally get this development out of the ground.”
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42 Fountain Street
Corporate Travel Management (CTM) a global provider of innovative and cost-effective travel management solutions to the corporate market, is consolidating its two Manchester offices into a single floorplate of 3,821 sq ft at 42 Fountain Street.
Its European head office is based in London, but general manager, sales, Shelley Mathews, said: “We wanted to be in the centre of Manchester, this is a key area to grow our operational teams and it’s a great location, the office has been totally refurbed and it’s a nice open working space.”
Avison Young and Sixteen Real Estate are the joint agents for 42 Fountain Street, which has more than 22,000 sq ft of office space spread across seven storeys.
Matt Pickersgill, associate director at Avison Young, said: “We are very happy that CTM instantly recognised 42 Fountain Street as their long term home in Manchester and they will be an excellent addition to the building. It is no surprise we are seeing very good levels of interest and this is testament to the quality of the design and finishes that 42 Fountain Street has to offer as well as the additional fit-out that each self-contained suite provides.”
The office suites provide an enhanced CAT A fit-out to include, meeting rooms and kitchen/break-out area, as well as being fully connected and cabled. The building also boasts brand new wellbeing facilities in the basement including fitness suite, showers and changing rooms.
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The Greenhouse
A landmark Merseyside office building that featured in the BBC TV series The Responder has been let in one of the city region’s largest property deals of the year, so far.
The Greenhouse, a 12,000 sq ft office building in Bridle Way, Bootle, was marketed by Keppie Massie and B8RE on behalf of the building’s asset management company Prime Property Consultancy and has now been leased by charity Change, Grow, Live (CGL).
Located on the corner of Bridle Road in a popular industrial estate, the building featured in the hit drama starring Martin Freeman. The Greenhouse’s now iconic oak-panelled boardroom was used as an office where Freeman’s character attended therapy sessions throughout the five-part show.
Tim Garnett, head of commercial agency at Keppie Massie, said: “This is one of the largest lettings in north Liverpool for many years and it reflects the growing demand that we have begun to see among larger occupiers.
“There is an increasingly strong pipeline of new occupier requirements, and this is an encouraging sign as we navigate through a recovering market.”
Imran Younus, commercial director at Prime Property, said: “The building is an excellent location and offers a great deal of potential to its new occupiers.
“This deal is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work and insight across the wider agency team and we look forward to welcoming CGL to the building.”
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The TT Games space
Design and construction company TMT has completed a £1.21m office workspace for TT Games, part of Warner Bros in Knutsford, Cheshire. CBRE provided project management, cost management and engineering services on the project on behalf of TT Games.
After securing the project following a competitive tender, TMT has undertaken a full refurbishment and remodelling of TT Games’ 16,000 sq ft office space at Canute Court in the heart of the town centre. The design includes a user testing area for external parties to use, to test the new games they have designed, as well as multiple collaborative break-out and social spaces for employees and customers to use.
Jerome Broderick, commercial manager at TMT, said: “From the outset, we wanted to really get under the skin of the business and understand the company culture and what TT Games needed from its workspace. The company’s people were central to the brief; the design needed to reflect why employees love making games, whilst creating a wide range of workspaces to support the different workstreams was also of paramount importance.
“The end result is an excellent example of what can be achieved when the client and project team work collaboratively, and we hope the TT Games team enjoy their new office environment.”
Ollie Campbell, director and head of fit-out at CBRE, said: “The collaborative, ‘can-do’ approach from TMT ensured maximum value and quality control throughout the fast tracked delivery.”
Richard Heap, facilities manager at TT Games, said: “Attracting and retaining the best talent in the gaming industry is incredibly competitive. We wanted to transform our workspace into a fluid environment which doesn’t restrict our employees’ creativity – this new workspace does exactly that. The investment we have made in our offices and our people will ensure we retain our industry leading role now and in the future.”
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The Hive
Two businesses have signed up to take space at the Hive, Lever Street, Manchester, as the office building is refurbished by new owner Grosvenor.
V7 Recruitment is expanding into the Hive taking 4,500 sq ft of space and Ashley James is bringing staff to the city centre from its base in Ancoats, tripling its footprint to 1,700 sq ft.
Both lettings were completed at £28.50 psf, bringing rents for the building back in line with prime locations nearby. Each occupier has also signed Grosvenor’s green lease, enabling property owner and occupiers to work together in reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
The signings come as Grosvenor completes stage one of its management plans for the building, following its acquisition in 2021 – 17,000 sq ft of space has already received a high quality new fit-out to improve services and environmental performance. With upgraded lighting, mechanical and other electrical services, this naturally ventilated space has achieved an EPC A rating.
Stage two of Grosvenor’s plans will see significant investment in the reception and common areas, including showers and increased bicycle storage, electric bike charging and a cycle repair station to make active travel and lifestyles easier for occupiers.
The Hive forms part of Grosvenor’s growing regional office portfolio which includes assets in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
Oli Ayling, of Grosvenor, said: “The Hive has the potential to be one of Manchester’s most sought after and sustainable office locations. Both V7 Recruitment and Ashley James were really excited by our plans for the investing in building and how it could help their growing businesses and staff succeed and we look forward to welcoming them soon.”
Ashley Knight, CEO of Ashley James, said: “We’re really excited to be a part of the community at The Hive on Lever Street. Our new space aligns with the ambitious growth plans we have for our Manchester team across several of our business areas.
“We’ve moved to the Northern Quarter to be closer to our candidates and clients and tripled the square footage of our previous unit in Ancoats. We’re experiencing unprecedented market demand for talent and as such, we’re growing the team here and have been regarded as an employer of choice in our sector, as recognised by Glassdoor.”
Steve Whiston, managing director, V7 Recruitment, said: “As soon as we viewed the space in The Hive, we knew we had to have it. We were particularly impressed with the sustainability focus of the building as it aligns with our own values. We’ve upgraded from 2,000 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft with two roof terraces, installed plant walls, games area and a bar, so we really couldn’t be happier.”
