61% jump in Manchester office take-up

FIRST quarter office take-up in Manchester city centre was up 61% on last year, according to the latest figures from the Manchester Office Agents’ Forum.

Take-up totalled 274,800 sq ft compared with 169,891 last year based on 64 transactions, up from 61.

There were six transactions over 10,000 sq ft, compared with three during the same period last year.

Key city centre office deals included Traveljigsaw which took 63,000 sq ft at Sunlight House, Quay Street, and the 22,000 sq ft letting to WorldPay at 3 Hardman Square, Spinningfields. Based on these figures MOAF said take-up is on target to exceed the 10-year average of 900,000 sq ft for the full year.

In south Manchester first quarter take-up was also up 61% from 136,000 sq ft to 219,286 sq ft. The largest transaction was the 45,000 sq ft letting at Park Square in Cheadle to engineering consultancy Jacobs. The Salford Quays and Old Trafford markets saw a 4% increase in volumes, totalling 52,894 sq ft.

Warrington saw a 120% leap in take-up to 93,129 sq ft, boosted by MWH who took 13,457 sq ft at Dominion House and United Utilities taking 10,681 sq ft at Lingley Mere.

Greg Ball from Jones Lang LaSalle and spokesperson for MOAF said: “Manchester experienced a strong finish at the end of last year and we have continued to see a healthy uptake in take-up in the first three months of 2013 demonstrating that demand for office space in Greater Manchester and Warrington remains high.

“Looking at the profile of occupiers, there is a good mix of inward investors, such as WorldPay, as well as companies already based in the region that needed expansion space for growth, such as Jacobs. This activity points to improving sentiment and confidence amongst occupiers during what remains a challenging market.”