Organisations leased over 1.45m sq. ft. of Manchester office space in the city centre in 2019. Although this is below the 2018 record figure of 1.75m sq. ft, it is still more than the 1.35m sq. ft. average over the last five years.
In 2019, there were 261 city centre lease deals in total and a new record rent of £36.50 per sq. ft. was negotiated for the 15-year lease on the 11,900 sq. ft. tenth floor of the Baring’s Landmark development.
Richard Lace, a property expert, said:
“Manchester’s office market continued to perform robustly despite political uncertainty and a diminishing lack of readily available Grade A supply.”
Notable office space deals included 82,000 sq. ft. let at the Globe and Simpson building, 70,782 sq. ft. at 2 New Bailey Square, and WeWork’s 51,000 sq. ft. deal at Hyphen.
The managed workspace market expanded in 2019 with Spaces’ occupying 121,00 sq. ft. at 125 Deansgate, which was the largest 2019 office space deal in Manchester.
Office space listings in other local areas did well, particularly in Salford Quays and Old Trafford where there were 102 lease transactions.
During 2020, there are a number of high-quality new office developments scheduled to be completed, so it is expected to be a strong year for the city centre office property market. Depending on how the Brexit “transition” process goes and its effects on the country’s economic stability, this could lead to more companies expanding or moving to Manchester.
