Manchester office take-up improves following slow start to 2011

Manchester continues to outperform other regional centres says Manchester Office Agents Forum

Article posted: 09 Sep 2011

The Manchester Office Agents Forum recently released its take-up figures for the second quarter of 2011, which shows that occupier activity for office space in Manchester City Centre has increased in comparison with the slow start to the year witnessed during Q1 2011. 

Take-up for Q2 within the City Centre totalled 174,978 sq ft, an increase of 36% on the previous quarter. The H1 total for 2011 is 304,000 sq ft, which is slightly less than the 317,000 sq ft total for the corresponding period in 2010 - a reduction of 4%. 

The most notable transactions during the last quarter were Linder Myers’ acquisition of 55 Spring Gardens (pictured) (47,500 sq ft) for their own long term occupation and HL Interactive’s acquisition of 9,000 sq ft at City Tower. The recent deal agreed at City Tower, which saw Aegis acquire 36,000 sq ft, will be included within the Q3 figures.

With large scale speculative development yet to be announced supply continues to decrease, particularly for Grade A accommodation where less than two years supply remains. For those landlords with high quality Grade A buildings this has enabled a more selective approach to agreeing deals. This is likely to continue for the foreseeable future as Grade A stock continues to be absorbed, resulting in an increase in average Grade A rents.

David Thwaites, Head of Office Agency at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and spokesperson for MOAF, said: “The slow start experienced early in 2011 followed an extremely strong end of year for 2010, when take-up levels were boosted by several large deals most notably by The Co-operative Group.

“It is understood that 2010 was an unprecedented year for occupational activity, which was always going to be difficult to maintain in the current climate. However, Manchester continues to outperform other competing regional centres and should benefit from several large requirements likely to be satisfied before the end of the year.”

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Posted by Jo