Larger requirements boost first quarter city centre property deals
New figures from the Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF) revealed that Manchester city centre saw 211,397 sq ft of space transacted in the first quarter of the year, across 59 deals.
The figures follow a particularly strong end to 2022, with the majority of larger deals in the market completing in Q4, resulting in a steadier start to 2023.
The first quarter saw five deals over 10,000 sq ft, with Starling and Vanguard both taking 14,000 sq ft at Landmark, the Competition & Markets Authority and Matillion taking 17,281 sq ft and 27,056 sq ft at One and Two New Bailey, respectively, and Freeths acquiring 10,764 sq ft at 100 Barbirolli.
Daniel Barnes, office agency director at Savills Manchester, said: “Following a strong Q4, with many of the larger deals in the market completing, Q1 has inevitably got off to a slower start.
“However, we have continued to see a good churn of deals throughout this quarter and with a number of larger requirements entering the market, we expect to see an uplift in both transaction volumes and size over the coming months.”
Outside of the city centre, South Manchester saw a total take up of 135,056 sq ft across 84 deals, the two largest transactions being Barratt Homes taking 10,140 sq ft at Adamson House and Essity taking 9,640 sq ft at Ocean House on Towers Business Park at a headline rent of £25 psf.
Additionally, Salford Quays and Trafford saw 64,446 sq ft of take up in Q1 across 18 transactions, including 36,164 sq ft being acquired by the University of Bolton in Valo.
Richard Dinsdale, office agency director at Edwards & Co Manchester, said: “The South Manchester region has experienced a strong start in 2023, almost doubling the Q1 take up in 2022, with the Towers in Didsbury claiming the two largest lettings from a healthy total of 84 transactions.
“There is also a steady stream of larger requirements in the market at present, standing South Manchester in good stead for the rest of 2023. Furthermore, Salford Quays & Old Trafford also experienced over 50% growth on Q1 2022, totalling 64,446 sq ft, which again reinforces the resilience of the Greater Manchester regions.”
MOAF reports that Q2 has started positively, with a number of larger requirements entering the market which will secure space over the coming months.
MOAF was formed in 2009, and members include Avison Young, BE Group, CBRE, Colliers International, Canning O’Neill, Cushman & Wakefield, Edwards & Co, Hallams Property Consultants, JLL, Knight Frank, LSH, Matthews & Goodman, OBI, Savills and Sixteen.
