Developer Allied London is close to striking a £165m (€187.2m) deal with Union Investment Group.
The Hamburg-based fund manager is in talks to finance a 350,000 sq ft (32,515 m2) office building at Allied’s Spinningfields estate in Manchester.
Allied has been in negotiations with Lloyds Banking Group to prelet 180,000 sq ft of the scheme at the Foster & Partners-designed 1 Hardman Square, although a prelet has not yet been agreed.
It would be the North West’s largest speculative finance deal since before the downturn.
Union would provide development finance and would receive a discount on the scheme’s end value, which could be £180m.