Office of the Month: 41 Spring Gardens

ONE of the newest properties to come back onto the market in Manchester is Associated Property Owners’ 41 Spring Gardens.

The 15,727 sq ft building was built by renowned architect Alfred Waterhouse – who also designed the city’s town hall, University and its Refuge and Prudential Assurance Buildings. It is Grade One-listed.

41 Spring Gardens has been owned by Associated Property Owners – a family-owned property company based in Birkenhead – for the past five years.
It had previously served as the Manchester base for law firm Weightmans, but it vacated the building around 18 months ago following its move to Carlyle Group’s 3 Piccadilly Place building.

Associated Property Company has since completed a £2m refit of the internal space.

Peter Meakin of P3 Property Consultancy, which is joint letting agent for the space alongside BNP Paribas, said the building had been stripped back to its brick frame as part of the redevelopment, but added that its owners had been keen to retain as many of the building’s original features as possible. The fit-out was carried out by Manchester-based Claremont Business Interiors.

The Grade A space can be subdivided into suites offering space from as little as 800 sq f, but Meakin said that it was currently talking to occupiers looking to let space “on a floor-by-floor basis.

“We’d love to get one occupier for the whole site, and to be honest there are not many buildings at the top of King street that an occupier could badge as their own,” he added.

“The location will hopefully sell itself. This part of the city now offers so much in terms of ambiance and vibe. It has become a desirable location, as well as a business destination.”

The building, which is at the junction of Spring Gardens and King St, is next to the Rosso Restaurant owned by the Kamani family and is opposite the recently-refurbished Browns Bar & Restaurant. Jamie’s Italian is also due to open across the road at the Lutyens-designed former Midland Bank branch at 100 King St early next year.

The bulk of the ground floor of 41 Spring Gardens is taken up by existing retail units let to the likes of designer kitchen specialist Mark Wilkinson, but a reception area is available for the building’s tenants. The office space is spread over four upper floors and has a quoting rent of £23.50 per sq ft, although Meakin added that it will look for £25 per sq ft for the top (fifth) floor.

“We’re feeling fairly bullish about quoting figures and what we might achieve here,” he said Meakin.

Speaking at the launch event for the building, Associated Property Owners’ director Bill Saville said: “We are long term investors and despite a background of the worst property market most of us can remember, we were absolutely determined to do the right thing at this building and bring it back to market right at the top end of quality space.”