Property round-up: Jacobs Engineering moves to Park Square; £3.7m housing scheme completes; and more
ORBIT Developments has let 9,720 sq ft of office space at its Park Square scheme in Cheadle, to US-owned engineering consultancy, Jacobs Engineering.
Following a contract win earlier this year, the company will relocate part of its operations, including 70 staff, to Park Square from its existing base at Cheadle Royal Business Park.
Tony Jones, managing director of Orbit Developments, said: “Jacobs Engineering is one of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of professional technical services.
“After more than a decade in the region, it is a significant boost for Stockport that a company of its stature has chosen to remain in the borough by not only moving to Park Square but also expanding its operations as well.”
Park Square is one of south Manchester’s biggest office buildings, with one of the largest single floor plates in the region.
The 133,000 sq ft office building underwent a major refurbishment to its reception area and office suites earlier this year. To date, Orbit has invested approximately £1.6 million in the six-storey office building.
Councillor Dave Goddard, leader of Stockport Council, said: “It’s great news that an international company like Jacobs has chosen to expand its operations and continue to invest in Stockport.”
Jacobs Engineering was represented by Vail Williams. DTZ and GVA acted for Orbit Developments
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THE Automobile Association (AA) has taken a lease on 12,105 sq ft of office space at Fulwood Court in Preston.
The firm has relocated from nearby Cable Court, where it occupied two separate office buildings of around 3,000 sq ft.
AA employs around 100 people at Fulwood Court, which serves as a call/contact centre for its windscreen replacement business. It was advised on the lease by GVA.
Christopher Cheap, director at GVA, said: “The AA were committed to Preston as a location and instructed GVA to undertake a comprehensive search of the market place. We were delighted to find a suitable solution for their expansion plans at Fulwood Court.”
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NORTHERN Irish contractor Patton Group has landed the deal to build Tesco’s new 140,000 sq ft, £45m superstore in Pendleton, next to Salford Shopping City. Meanwhile, Contractor McLaren Group has secured a contract to build the £25m chilled distribution warehouse planned for Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale.
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A £3.7m development of houses and bungalows has been completed in Bootle by Adactus Housing Group on a site known to locals as The Tannery.
The 29 homes at Heathfield Drive, Librex Close and Penpoll Close, off Hawthorne Road, have been built in partnership with Bellway Homes and form part of Sefton Council’s Housing Market Renewal Programme.
Some 17 of the homes are now available for rent under shared ownership via the Government’s HomeBuy scheme.
Sefton Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and housing, Ian Maher, said: “This new housing will allow residents of the adjacent Klondyke estate to be re-housed in high quality and modern properties in this attractive canalside location.
“All the partners involved with this project can be very proud of what has been achieved so far in the ongoing regeneration of the area.”
Paul Lees, chief executive of Adactus Housing Group, said: “We’re pleased to be able to continue our partnership with Sefton Council in regenerating the Klondyke area.
“The quality of these new homes is excellent and we hope that the residents who have moved into them will be very happy.”
The scheme received investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Deborah McLaughlin, North West executive director at the HCA, said: “It is excellent to see such an important phase of the regeneration of the Klondyke area completed.
“The improvements to date have been fantastic and I am really pleased that this investment has been able to help so many residents move in to such high quality new homes.”
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ELECTRICAL systems supplier, Abca Systems, has taken a 2,014 sq ft unit at Whitegate Business Park in Chadderton. Unit two was taken on a six-year lease on an undiscloosed rental. Knight Frank advised landlord Spencer Holdings.
Colliers International is joint letting agent on the scheme.
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DESIGN studio NoChintz has announced it has won a contract to provide furniture, fittings and equipment for Natural Retreats’ £6m holiday homes scheme at John O’Groats.
Matt Spence, chief executive of Manchester-based Natural Retreats, said: “We chose NoChintz to work with us as we fundamentally believe that their enthusiasm for good design and creativity adds tremendous value to what we plan to achieve both in John O’Groats and our future developments.”
Following a £1.8 million funding boost from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Natural Retreats in partnership with Heritage Great Britain, started work in September 2011 on redeveloping the historic John O’Groats Hotel and adjacent land.
It is being converted into 16 luxury apartments. Some 23, three-bedroom detached lodges will also be built on the site.
NoChintz will provide interior design consultancy as well as all the furniture, furnishing, decor, fixtures and fittings for the hotel and residences.
Lucy Goddard, NoChintz director, said: “It is a real pleasure to be working so closely with Natural Retreats on such an exciting development. This is a wonderful opportunity for NoChintz to add real value to the project, and to enhance guests experience through beautiful design to complement the amazing architecture and stunning surroundings at John O’Groats.”
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SEDDON Developments has agreed a deal to sell the freehold of a 15,000 sq ft retail facility in Rochdale to Naylor’s Equestrian.
The facility will be built on a seven-acre site at Mellor St in Rochdale currently being developed by Seddon Homes – a proportion of which was earmarked for commercial use.
Naylor’s is taking the entire commercial element of the scheme for its new facility, which is eight times bigger than its existing site. Construction work will begin immediately.
The Naylor’s business has undergone consistent growth since its current owners, the Atkinson family, took over the firm in 2007.
Partner Peter Atkinson said: “We are obviously taking a sizable risk with this development, but we were keen to be able to acquire a freehold proposition and have a building designed to our exact specification.
“This is exactly what we have been able to achieve with Seddon Developments.
“The new unit is only a mile away from our current premises, which means that we can retain and expand on our existing customer base and provide a greater product offering for the large horse community in Rochdale, Bury and the surrounding areas.
“We are also hoping to take on a further 6-10 people in the next 18 months as part of these expansion plans.”
Jamie Seddon of Seddon Developments said: “Naylor’s is a hugely ambitious company and we are looking forward to providing them with a new retail unit that will fully accommodate their future growth.”
Seddon Homes is planning to build 90 two, three and four-bedroom homes on the adjacent site, which will be released onto the market early next year.
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IMPERIAL Media Services has taken 1,500 sq ft of office space at the City Point office building in Liverpool, taking occupancy levels at the 24,878 sq ft building to more than 70%.
Four office suites remain available at the building on Great Homer St.
Suites are typically 1,5000 sq ft, but floorplates are flexible to allow one firm to take 6,00 sq ft, if required.
City Point is owned by Liverpool-based Oscar Developments. Joint agents Mason Owen & CBRE.
Andrew Owen, head of business space at Mason Owen said: “There is another 6,000sq ft available but we’ve had some very positive enquiries so this space will get snapped up soon.”
