It has been said that the true goal for Manchester’s business leaders is for the, self proclaimed, capital of the North, to become a firm rival to London.
The city has received yet another commercial property boost for this quest, with the news on Friday that AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has received planning consent for a £50m development in the centre of the city.
The plan for Peterloo House, in St Peter’s Square, is to demolish the existing 1960 built office block and replace it with a new 12-storey office building. The, scheme on Dickinson Street will more than double the amount of floor space at the location, the current buildings floor space stands at 40,000 sq ft and the new will be increase to 108,000 sq ft.
However, due to the worrying economic climate, the project is not quite full steam ahead, construction of the scheme is not expected to commence until around 50 per cent of the building has been pre-let.
Dorrien Thomas, UK head of asset management at AXA Real estate, said the development ‘will make it an ideal destination for local, national, or international businesses wanting office accommodation or a headquarters in Manchester… We have worked closely with Manchester City Council over recent months to ensure that the project fulfilled all the requirements we felt were necessary to attract businesses into the scheme but also provided the perfect complement to the council’s wider regeneration plans for the area.’
There are also a number of other commercial property projects in the pipeline for Manchester, with constructionenquirer.com writing: ‘Office building work in Manchester is set to fire up again as developers dust down planned schemes.’ This is great news for the Manchester economy, as development schemes such as this will not only bring more grade A office space to the area, but also create a large number of construction jobs.
