Property experts in Manchester remain optimistic that several large office deals will happen in the city in 2022, despite a sluggish start to the year.
Data from the Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF) shows that in the first quarter of 2021, there were deals for 347,000 square feet of office space in Manchester. This fell to 206,700 in quarter one of 2022, but there are nonetheless signs that office space deals will rise during the rest of 2022.
Amongst the many deals expected to be finalised soon is the Aecom take-up of 20,0000 square feet at 100 Embankment. Also, X+Why is set to occupy another 268,000 square feet at the same development. These and other major deals are expected to be included in the quarter two totals.
Additionally, professional services giant Deloitte is looking for new Manchester city centre office space of between 20,000 square feet and 40,000 square feet. The firm is expected to sign an office deal before the end of this year.
The head of Colliers estate company’s Manchester office, Dominic Pozzoni, said:
“Looking ahead, we are seeing increasing demand from large corporate occupiers looking to commit to acquiring space within Manchester city centre.”
After the lifting of Covid restrictions, workers have largely returned to offices, so is expected that occupancy of office space in Manchester could soon reach pre-pandemic levels. MOAF reports that there is over half a million square feet of premium office space available across 11 developments in the city centre.
