Focus turns to leisure as MoJ confirmed at Redfern

A remaining 7,727 sq ft is up for grabs at the refurbished building in Manchester’s Noma district, now that the Ministry of Justice has finalised its deal to take all 25,000 sq ft of office space.

The department’s move to the Dantzic Street block, within the Noma district, was revealed by Place North West in last September, the Dutch Modernist-style building’s renovation having been completed by Russell WBHO six months earlier.

Redfern will be home to a new flagship office for the Ministry of Justice’s National Probation Service, bringing together functions from a number of locations into a city centre hub. The MoJ has agrred a 15-year lease.

Under plans approved by Manchester City Council in 2019, the grade two-listed former warehouse and commercial building has been repurposed as modern office space over six upper floors, with Sheppard Robson as project architect.

There is an additional 7,727 sq. ft. of self-contained retail and leisure space on the ground and mezzanine floors, overlooking Sadler’s Yard, Manchester’s newest public square.

As set out in the development’s brochure, this is spit into two units: Unit 1 having two floors of around 2,800 sq ft each; Unit 2 having a single floor.

With one side of the building facing onto Sadler’s Yard and the popular Pilcrow pub, there is the potential for external seating, a factor that has become all-important for hospitality operators over the last year.

Lyons Thompson Letts and Colliers are retained retail and leisure agents.

Stephen Bradley, director investment management at Federated Hermes, said: “The Ministry of Justice’s decision to launch its flagship hub model at NOMA is a major vote of confidence in the neighbourhood and reflects the time, money and creativity that have been invested in bringing our vision to life.

“NOMA’s appeal to high calibre tenants such as Amazon, Deloitte and the Ministry of Justice underlines the quality of the developments we have created, as illustrated by the successful repositioning of Redfern as a modern workspace, and also the value of the broader offer we have achieved through the provision of community amenities such as Sadler’s Yard.”

Noma, the 20-acre neighbourhood initially conceived around the Co-op’s headquarters, is being delivered by the international business of Federated Hermes, with MEPC, which Federated Hermes recently acquired, as development and asset manager.

Elsewhere in the scheme, construction is currently under way at 4 Angel Square, a speculative 200,000 sq ft operationally net zero carbon office development.

Workman undertakes property and estate management across NOMA. Colliers and JLL are retained office agents.