Manchester’s latest landmark office development signs up first tenants

Permalink: Manchester’s latest landmark office development signs up first tenants
by Lin Freestone

The Manchester office of property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is to relocate to Manchester’s latest landmark building, Chancery Place.

JLL is the letting agent for the 15-storey, £20m development located in the Upper King Street Conservation Area, and is the first big tenant for the building which is due for completion in October.

Chancery Place Developments, the Irish developer of the project, is confident that it will appeal to local and international companies wishing to establish themselves in a Grade A office building in the city. The upper floors will be able to command a rental value in excess of £30 per sq ft.

HKR Architects designed the glass-fronted building, sited on a wedge-shaped site which has been unoccupied for ten years. It will provide a mix of retail and office space, and two and a half levels of basement parking. Despite covering just 0.2 acres of land, the building will create 102,000 sq ft of commercial space.

As a further endorsement of the quality of the project, HKR is also considering becoming a tenant of the building. To increase the commercial appeal of the building, each floor of 7,750 sq ft of net lettable area has been designed to be divided into two separate tenancies if required.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s signing of a 15-year lease coincides with a number of other professional firms, including solicitors and accountants, poised to sign up.

In the opinion of JLL, the market is still moving and tenants can still be attracted if the product is right. 2008 is looking to be a good year for Manchester’s city centre office market.