A pair of trophy Manchester office assets are being readied for sale for a combined £160m as the regional investment market continues to blossom.
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and Alanis Capital have appointed JLL to sell 105,500 sq ft Chancery Place with an asking price of £50m-£60m.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse Asset Management is gearing up for a sale of 180,000 sq ft 3 Hardman Square in Spinningfields out of its CS Euroreal fund. An asking price of as much as £100m is expected, with CBRE set to be appointed to market the block.
The €7.6bn (£6.1bn) CS Euroreal fund is being wound down by 2017. It purchased the Hardman Square block in 2008 from Aviva Investors.
Both properties command headline rents for Manchester of around £30-£32 per sq ft.
The 14-floor Chancery Place was previously put up for sale for £45m in 2012.
A source said: “There is very little stock on the market. It is the best time to cash in for years, even if you’ve still got some empty space.”
Sales of the two assets would account for around half of 2013’s bumper investment total, which, according to Knight Frank, stood at £330m, compared with £100m in 2012.
Overseas interest in the Manchester market accounted for 60% of office investment in 2013, compared with the five-year average of 45%, according to Savills.
JLL director of capital markets James Porteous said: “Available floor space in Manchester is heavily constrained and this is likely to result in significant rental growth over the next few years. Investors are understandably keen to obtain exposure to this.
“There is significant weight of capital from both UK and overseas investors looking for opportunities in Manchester but only limited availability of truly prime stock, so we’re expecting substantial interest in Chancery Place from the outset.”
chris.berkin@estatesgzette.com
