Two big-four accountancy lettings at No1 Spinningfields have prompted Allied London into a redesign just weeks after winning planning permission.
EY and PwC are both close to signing 60,000 sq ft prelets at the Manchester scheme, paying around £30 per sq ft.
The 343,000 sq ft, 19-storey tower, designed by Ian Simpson Architects, was approved on 12 May, but will now go back in for planning with redesigned elements of the building to allow for separate entrances.
The redesign has been described as an innovative move by Allied to snap up a pair of tenants for whom co-occupation had been widely ruled out.
A source said: “It is quite flexible of Allied to do this so soon after its flagship new-build scheme was approved. But it will have to move fast.
“One slip-up in the planning process and the 2017 timescale for the tenants will start to look pretty tight.”
EY occupies Moorfield’s and Oaktree Capital Management’s 100 Barbirolli Square, with PwC in the neighbouring 101 Barbirolli Square. Both pay around £25 per sq ft and have leases which expire in 2017.
The Barbirolli blocks were built in the 1990s. The owners are now planning a refurbishment programme.
Number 1 Spinningfields represents the final element of the Spinningfields estate, along with the 160,000 sq ft speculative Cotton Building.
OBI advises Allied London on No 1; Cushman & Wakefield acts for EY; PwC is unrepresented.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
