Prime Manchester office sells at 6% yield

Bill Wrather’s Manchester-based property company Wrather Group has bought the Arkwright House office building in the city for £18.5m, reflecting a net initial yield of around 6%.   The deal is the largest office purchase by a private buyer in central Manchester since the start of the credit crunch last summer, when prime office yields hardened to around 4.5%.   The listed 85,000 sq ft block on Parsonage Gardens, off Deansgate, is let to HSBC and insurance firms CGU, Bain Hogg and Aon.   The ground floor is occupied by vodka bar Revolution.   The developer is expected to fully refurbish the building in order to secure rental uplifts.   At Zenith, its recently completed scheme on Manchester’s Spring Gardens, Wrather quoted rents of £28.50 per sq ft, on a par with Grade A schemes in the city centre.   A refurbished single 15,000 sq ft floorplate at Arkwright House will be available later this year.   Cushman & Wakefield and Edwards & Co acted on behalf of Wrather.   The seller was a client of CB Richard Ellis Investors. david.quinn@egi.co.uk