£132m City Tower sale to fund Bruntwood’s pipeline
BRUNTWOOD’S £132m sale of City Tower will give it the firepower to develop its existing portfolio, according to the firm’s chief executive.
The group has sold the 30-storey building to London-based asset manager Schroders but will continue manage it.
Chief executive Chris Oglesby said: “The capital from the sale will be recycled, allowing us to continue to deliver our substantial development pipeline.”
The 615,000 sq ft tower – the tallest commercial space outside London – is fully let to tenants such as Indian outsourcing firm Aegis, recruitment specialist Hays, and Bruntwood also has its headquarters there.
Bruntwood’s property marketing director Colin Sinclair told TheBusinessDesk: “The Manchester market has heated up to an unbelievable extent. It’s all credit to Manchester which now has global interest which doesn’t really apply to other areas outside London.
“City Tower is iconic and you can see why it would attract this attention. It means we can invest in Manchester and at sites such as Alderley Park.”
Bruntwood acquired Alderley Park through its interest in Manchester Science Parks earlier in the year, and is also looking at housing plans at Booths Park, near Knutsford, Cheshire.
The City Tower sale follows the £16.6m disposal of No 1 Portland Street in December, but Mr Sinclair said there was no plans to sell Manchester One, another high profile building in the city centre which underwent a £1.5m makeover last year.
