More than 179,000 sq ft of office space transacted in Q2 2023 in Manchester city centre, according to Manchester Office Agents Forum.
The 52 deals racked up in the second quarter took the half year figure to 390,470 sq ft, with stand out deals including Arup’s 15,218 sq ft expansion at 3 Piccadilly Place and a 15,436 sq ft transaction at Bonded Warehouse where Dentsu acquired a fully fitted and furnished workspace.
Richard Lace, director at OBI, said despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop, Manchester continues to be one of the best performing regional UK cities in terms of commercial workspace transacted.
“Manchester is not over reliant on any one sector, and whilst we have seen more muted levels of demand from the tech sector, due to high interest rates and rising inflation, businesses from the legal and professional and financial services sectors remains relatively strong,” said Lace. “Though the recording of Hill Dickinson and Pinsent Masons commitment to St Michael’s will fall in to the second half of the year, it does illustrate that headline rents within the city centre remain resilient and continue to rise for best-in-class, ESG focused, prime Grade A buildings.
“The outlook for the city remains positive, with significant size requirements in the market from both existing Manchester business but also new entrants seeking to establish a presence in the city.”
Mark Garner, associate director at CBRE, added: “The latest office take-up figures for South Manchester, Salford Quays and Old Trafford are extremely encouraging and clearly show the continued appeal these regional markets have to occupiers. The quality of development in these areas continues to evolve and improve which is driving demand from occupiers looking to secure easily commutable, sustainable workspace that is rich in amenity and communal facilities for their staff.
“In the last three months alone we’ve seen over 500,000 sq ft of new requirements circulated from occupiers looking to secure space within these regional markets. We’re expecting take-up to remain strong in the remaining quarters of the year.”
