Property Briefs: Law firm advises on Manchester office deal; Building consultancy expands team; and more

NABARRO has advised Bupa UK on the acquisition of The Regent Building in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester.  
 
Currently under construction, The Regent Building will provide 145,000 sq ft of offices. Bupa pre-let the MediaCityUK office building last year, signing a 15-year lease for the entire scheme in February 2015.
 
The Nabarro team was led by real estate partner Mark Haywood, assisted by partner Chris Hallam who led on construction and infrastructure-related issues, partner Nathan Jansen and associate David Turner. Peel Group was represented by Addleshaw Goddard.
 
Mr Haywood said: “We were delighted to act for Bupa on the acquisition of its new regional headquarters in Manchester. We look forward to providing support throughout the development and construction of the site.”

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BUILDING and project consultancy Paragon has continued to grow its Manchester office by taking on Tarik Rasul as associate director and Justin Fairhurst as project manager.

Mr Rasul will head up the firm’s QS team and form part of the project management team working alongside Peter McIllhagger.  

Mr Fairhurst will be reunited with Aled Howells, who he previously worked with at Mace.  

The two will be working on many of Paragon’s projects including a number of student residential schemes, fund monitoring as well as the easyHotel portfolio in Manchester and Liverpool.

Mr McIlhagger, director at Paragon, said: “Having just celebrated our first anniversary of the opening of the Paragon Manchester office, we have grown to become a strong team here in the North.  Tarik – with whom I have worked with for more than 10 years – and Justin will be vital in assisting us as we continue to grow.”

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RETAILER New Look is set to open its standalone menswear store in Bolton on Friday.

The store at Market Place Shopping Centre spans 2200 sq ft.

Roger Wightman, chief creative officer, said: “Menswear is a key strategic priority for New Look, and the opening of menswear standalone stores represents a natural next step for us. We are very proud of the improvements made to our offer over the past two years – the opening of menswear standalone stores will allow us to more fully showcase the enhanced quality of our product ranges. Our menswear director, Christopher Englinde, joined us from H&M at the end of 2015, and as a business we are very excited about the prospects of future growth.”
 
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ForViva is bringing forward 50 homes for shared ownership as it launches ForLiving.

The group, which includes City West Housing Trust, Villages Housing Association and construction firm ForWorks, was formed in June 2015 and currently owns and manages more than 17,300 affordable homes across the North West.

The properties, which will be spread across three developments in Salford, are the first to be built by ForViva for shared ownership and will be sold under the newly created ForLiving banner.  

Paul Gerrard, assistant director of business development at ForViva, said: “The launch of ForLiving demonstrates our ambition to bring forward much needed new homes across a variety of tenures that meet the needs of the communities where we operate.

“We have set out an ambitious development programme over the coming years and shared ownership will play a significant role in our plans for the future.”