Moorfield acquires South Manchester office scheme

Wereldhave sells The Towers, Didsbury for £47m

Article posted: 13 Dec 2011

Moorfield Group, on behalf of the Moorfield Real Estate Fund II (MREF II), recently acquired office space in South Manchester with the acquisition of The Towers in Didsbury for £47m from Wereldhave.

The opportunity was identified through Moorfield’s joint venture partnership with Manchester based Property Alliance Group, who will be Moorfield’s property management partner in the implementation of the JV’s business plan.

The Towers is currently occupied by high profile tenants including British Airways, John Lewis, Vodafone and Cisco. The estate consists of nine office buildings, totalling 290,000 sq ft, within 19 acres of landscaped parkland. Under the new ownership, there are plans to undertake a comprehensive refurbishment programme throughout the estate including extensive landscaping works.

Marc Gilbard, chief executive of Moorfield Group, said: “The partnership has worked hard over the last 24 months to find the right opportunities to acquire in the North West.  We are confident in this asset’s potential to become an even more successful and desirable location following our focus on building and site improvements, satisfying current and future occupier demand and requirements.”

Dominic Pozzoni, director, Property Alliance Group, added: “Our focus has always been on building relationships and partnerships with agents, occupiers and strategic joint venture partners and this off-market acquisition confirms the hard work put in by all involved.   We believe we have acquired the right investment for our partnership with Moorfield, offering substantial potential to improve and enhance the value of the estate. The Towers has it all; the location, ample amenities, strong existing occupiers and the ability to expand in its use and appeal for further occupiers. Property Alliance Group’s core strengths are our established brand of quality design with competitive pricing, supported by the long-standing relationships with tenants.”

“We are already underway with plans to make the change in ownership seamless for existing occupiers and to assess ways to improve the park to ensure Towers is a destination in this key area of Manchester.”

WHR Property acted on behalf of Moorfield and Property Alliance Group and Jones Lang La Salle acted for the vendor.