Manchester city centre saw 211,397 sq ft of office leasings across some 59 deals in the first quarter of 2023.
The quarter saw five deals over 10,000 sq ft transacted, according to data from Manchester Office Agents Forum. These included Starling and Vanguard taking 14,000 sq ft each at Landmark, the Competition and Markets Authority and Matillion occupying 17,281 sq ft and 27,056 sq ft respectively at One and Two New Bailey, and Freeths acquiring 10,764 sq ft at 100 Barbirolli Square.
Savills Manchester office agency director Daniel Barnes said: “Following a strong Q4, with many of the larger deals in the market completing, Q1 [of 2023] has inevitably got off to a slower start.”
But a steady stream of leasing deals throughout the first quarter and “a number of large requirements entering the market” leads Barnes to “expect an uplift in both transaction volumes and size over the coming months”.
MOAF – members of which include Avison Young, CBRE, Colliers, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Knight Frank and Savills – also found that in South Manchester a total of 135,056 sq ft was occupied across 84 deals.
The most substantial deals included Barratt Homes taking 10,140 sq ft at Adamson House and Essity’s deal to take 9,640 sq ft at Ocean House, located at Towers Business Park, for a headline rent of £25 per sq ft.
There was 64,446 sq ft of take up in Q1 across 18 transactions in the Salford Quays and Trafford submarket, where 36,164 sq ft was acquired by the University of Bolton in the Valo building.
Richard Dinsdale, office agency director at Edwards & Co Manchester, added that the submarket has had steady take-up in 2023, “almost doubling the Q1 take up in 2022, with the Towers in Didsbury claiming the two largest lettings from a healthy total of 84 transactions”.
He added: “There is also a steady stream of larger requirements in the market at present, standing South Manchester in good stead for the rest of 2023.
“Furthermore, Salford Quays and Old Trafford also experienced over 50% growth on Q1 2022, totalling 64,446 sq ft, which again reinforces the resilience of the Greater Manchester regions.”
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