A new record headline rent has been set in Manchester as a combination of rising demand and limited supply pushes up prices in the city.
Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters has signed an 11-year lease for 5,000 sq ft at 3 Hardman Street in the Spinningfields district. At £32 per sq ft, the deal surpasses pre-recession levels and demonstrates the current strength of the Manchester office market.
James Harrop-Griffiths, of landlord Aerium, said the record rent is a reflection of the attractiveness of, what he describes as, the “best office building in Manchester.” He added that Aerium expects to see further “positive results” from their assets as the market continues to improve.
Robert Walters’ director for the North, Chris Poole, said that the company’s growth had led to the need for an increase in office space and that Spinningfields was the “standout location in Manchester.”
Rents in the city may be pushed even higher in the coming months as the availability of Grade A offices space is at an historic low. The ten year average take-up is 285,000 sq ft with just 245,000 sq ft currently available and 200,000 sq ft in the immediate pipeline.
This situation will be helped by further developments in Spinningfields. Work has just begun on Allied London’s Cotton Building which will provide 160,000 sq ft of flexible space on Hardman Boulevard.
And last month Allied London won planning permission for No 1 Spinningfields, a 20 storey building which faced opposition from English Heritage.
Despite conceding that the development would do “some harm” to the setting of nearby listed buildings, the planners sided with the developer, saying that this harm was outweighed by the benefits the scheme would bring.
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