Manchester’s city centre has just 160,000 sq ft of grade A offices currently available after 1.2m sq ft of take-up was secured in 2017.
The lack of available stock in 2018 could present significant opportunities for proactive landlords prepared to deliver refurbished product to the market, according to the Manchester Office Agents Forum.
The majority of grade A schemes under construction, which include Bruntwood and Select Property Group’s Circle Square (230,000 sq ft) and Barings Real Estate Advisors’ Landmark (180,000 sq ft), will be delivered in mid-late 2019, providing the opportunity for a prelet market once the existing supply is absorbed.
The take-up figure for 2017 reflects a fall of 7.5% on the previous year, but is significantly above the city centre’s 10-year average.
Key transactions included: 55,802 sq ft to We Work at Schroder Real Estate’s No1 Spinningfields and 44,000 sq ft at Deka Immobilien’s One St Peters Square and Clyde & Co taking 69,000 sq ft at Hines’ Manchester Royal Exchange.
Scott Shufflebottom, associate director at real estate advisors Colliers International, said: “The strong end to 2017 reinforces the sentiment of Manchester being the most active office market outside of London.
“The dust has yet to settle on the decision for the UK to leave the European Union, but it is the collective view of MOAF that there will be no long-term negative impact on the city centre office market.
“Due to the unrivalled quality of both the existing and proposed developments and the strong levels of demand from both indigenous and inward investing occupiers, we have full confidence that the rental market will continue to prosper.”
To send feedback, e-mail Louisa.Clarence-Smith@egi.co.uk or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette
