Bupa Health Assurance has shelved one of Manchester’s largest office requirements after a two-year search.
The private healthcare provider instructed Cushman & Wakefield in 2011 to find between 140,000 sq ft and 180,000 sq ft of office space in Greater Manchester, ahead of lease expiries at its Salford Quay offices.
The search focused on Manchester city centre sites and in 2012 three sites were shortlisted: the Co-operative Group’s £800m NOMA scheme, Allied London’s Spinningfields and Ask Developments’ 1m sq ft First Street scheme (pictured).
But Bupa UK property director Lyth Watson said a decision had been taken to “reassess the project” due to “strategic organisational changes”.
A spokeswoman said Bupa would stay at its Salford Quay offices while it re-evaluated the project. Bupa has occupied the 35,000 sq ft eight-storey 3 Anchorage Quay in Salford since 1992. The building is owned by a private London syndicate.
It also occupies 11,000 sq ft at 1 Anchorage Quay and 32,000 sq ft at 4 Anchorage Quay, as well as a further 50,000 sq ft at Peel’s the Victoria in the same area.
The majority of the company’s lease arrangements at Salford Quays are set to expire in 2015.
The Bupa requirement far outstripped others in the city over the past two years, with Jacobs Engineering having the only other publicly known requirement above 100,000 sq ft.
