MOAF: Manchester on track for 1.3m sq ft office take-up in 2024

BNY Mellon’s 196,000 sq ft takeover of 4 Angel Square and ARM’s 69,000 sq ft deal at St Michael’s contributed to a significant increase in office take-up compared to the previous quarter, according to the Manchester Office Agents Forum.

A total of 432,000 sq ft of office space was let across 51 deals in Manchester during the third quarter of 2024, up from 332,000 sq ft in Q2.

The 100,000 sq ft jump was made possible by the ARM and BNY Mellon deals, which combined accounted for 256,000 sq ft. This figure is well over 50% of the total quarterly take-up and amounts to 28% of the total take-up for 2024 to date.

Another notable deal that completed during the quarter saw Teleperformance sign for 23,065 sq ft at Bruntwood Sci Tech’s Bond.

Following a bumper Q3, the final quarter of 2024 is also off to a good start. Channel 4 has taken 12,200 sq ft at St Michael’s, which is now fully let, while Virgin Media O2 has signed for almost half of HBD and GMPF’s 100,000 sq ft Island on John Dalton Street.

Looking ahead

MOAF is predicting a strong end to 2024, with take-up expected to top 1.3m sq ft.

Take-up at this level would exceed the five- and 10-year averages of 1.1m sq ft and 1.24m sq ft respectively, according to the forum.

So far, 944,000 sq ft of office space has been let in Manchester in 2024.

Rob Yates, head of office agency at Cushman & Wakefield and MOAF Chairman said: “Manchester’s office market continued to perform robustly, the return of larger lettings is particularly pleasing.

“The letting of 4 Angel Square is the largest regional ‘big six’ transaction recorded in the last four years. This illustrates the pull of Manchester to major occupiers seeking to consolidate and expand their footprint in Manchester.”

While the figures for 2024 are shaping up nicely, Yates is predicting supply issues in the near future.

“We continue to see a diminishing supply of readily available Grade A space and robust demand for the best space. Given the lack of speculative development we expect to see a supply and demand imbalance in 2025,” he said.

“This issue will be further magnified when a number of high-profile transactions complete in Q4.”

Out-of-town

Looking beyond the city centre into South Manchester, Trafford, and Salford Quays, take-up was reported as 117,000 sq ft over 74 transactions. Most of that was in South Manchester, with MOAF reporting a take-up of 82,000 sq ft over 59 transactions in the quarter.

John Nash, director at Canning O’Neill, said: “The out-of-town markets have been incredibly consistent through 2024 with similar transaction numbers and take up throughout each quarter of the year.

“Take up remains down on historic five-year averages for these markets with larger lettings proving more difficult to secure. However, with reduced void and increasing rental levels in the city centre, the argument to look out of town is likely to become even more compelling.”

MOAF is made up of Avison Young, BE Group, CBRE, Colliers International, Canning O’Neill, Cushman & Wakefield, Edwards, Fisher German, Hallam Property Consultants, TSG Property Consultants, JLL, Knight Frank, LSH, OBI, Savills, and Sixteen.