Manchester Ship Canal House sold for £30m

Grosvenor has purchased the freehold of the 73,000 sq ft building off King Street from real estate investor Ardstone Capital.

The deal for around £30m was roughly £5m more than Ardstone had originally paid for the historic Ship Canal House in 2014. Ardstone had purchased the property back then from Himor Group for a sale price of £25.2m, according to H M Land Registry data.

Grosvenor’s acquisition of Ship Canal House is a boost to the company’s £200m regional office portfolio. Grosvenor also owns Canada House and The Hive in Manchester.

Keith Bailey, investment director at Grosvenor, is optimistic about the Manchester office market.

“Manchester’s office market continues to rebound well in this post-pandemic period with good levels of office demand and take up,” Bailey said.

“We are confident that high-quality offices in strong locations such as this with a good amenity offering will perform well,” he continued.

“Ship Canal House is a highly regarded Manchester CBD office asset and through investment in the building we believe it can pivot well to meet the evolving demands of office occupiers and accord with our corporate objectives on environmental performance and service offering”

Ship Canal House is nearly fully let, with only a single office suite vacant on the top floor. Grosvenor will refurbish that suite and make it available for letting later this year.

Built in 1927, Ship Canal House is a grade two-listed building. Grosvenor aims to invest further into the space, upgrading its office accommodation, amenities and environmental credentials.

CBRE acted for Grosvenor on the deal, while Avison Young advised Ardstone.