New figures revealing deals totalling nearly 1 million sq ft of office space were completed in Manchester City Centre by the three-quarter stage of 2024 show that major investment in has attracted national and international businesses.
A buoyant Q3 of lettings was underpinned by the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation moving into 196,000 sq ft of office space in 4 Angel Square along with ARM taking r 69,000 sq ft at No. 1 St Michael’s.
The impressive figures from the Manchester Office Agents Forum, featuring property agents across the city, highlight a total of 432,000 sq ft of office accommodation was let in 51 deals in Q3 in Manchester City Centre, which was an increase from 332,000 sq ft during Q2. To date in Q3, 944,000 sq ft of office space has been taken up in Manchester City Centre during 2024.
One of our partners, Steve Brittle, who works in our commercial agency team and is based at our Manchester office, said the figures proved the forward-thinking approach from the private and public sector in investing in high-grade office accommodation was attracting high-calibre businesses to the region.
He said: “The increase of 100,000 sq ft in deals compared to the previous quarter was predominantly due to the major letting to the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation which is the largest regional ‘big six’ letting recorded over the last four years.
“This highlights the attraction and pull of Manchester as a city to corporate occupiers wanting to consolidate and expand their presence in the city along with the high-quality space that is available.
“The massive amount of investment in Manchester city centre in recent years in terms of re-development, refurbishment of office buildings and inward investment from the private and public sector is paying huge dividends in the calibre of businesses and organisations that now want to make the city their home or expand here.
“Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is important to many businesses, and it is not only a case of satisfying stakeholders and investors, companies are taking these responsibilities seriously. ESG isn’t just the right thing to do morally. Acquiring office space that supports health, sustainability and transparency helps attract and retain top talent and is now considered to be a crucial factor when moving into a new base.
“We expect the final quarter of 2024 to be positive with the deals that are currently in the pipeline, and the office market in Manchester City Centre has demonstrated a robust performance to date and the evidence of larger footprint transactions is encouraging.”
In South Manchester, the market has witnessed a take up of 81,910 sq ft over 59 deals during Q3 which was a slight increase on the Q2 figure. The Q3 figure brings the transactions to date to 254,021 sq ft for 2024.
Steve said: “The South Manchester market has been consistent throughout the year with levels and number of transactions being similar in each quarter. We expect that to continue for the remainder of the year and into 2025.”
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