Handelsbanken signs up at 101 Barbirolli Square
Handelsbanken is expected to move in to the first three floors of the newly-refurbished 101 Barbirolli Square, taking between 35,000 and 40,000 sq ft at a rent of £30/sq ft, Place North West understands.
The Stockholm-headquartered bank, which has 208 British branches, is aiming to move in once the £6m refurbishment of the building, carried out by contractor Ardmac, completes in the coming weeks.
The building, formerly home to PwC before its move to No1 Spinningfields, was bought by real estate investment manager AEW from Aberdeen Asset Management in 2015 for around £32m.
Handelsbanken is understood to be taking the entire first, second, and third floors of the six-storey building at a rent of £30/sq ft. The deal would leave around 47,000 sq ft available in the 87,000 sq ft office.
The Manchester office is part of the company’s plan to create a UK subsidiary which will invest in infrastructure, systems, and “further UK-based expertise”, which the bank said would be set up “as a result of Brexit”.
Handelsbanken currently operates a branch in Spinningfields, and has office functions based at 4M at Manchester Airport, where it has 14,000 sq ft of space.
It also has a 10-year lease on 4,000 sq ft of space at 15 Quay Street, formerly owned by Capital & Centric. The developer sold the building to the Ventnor investment consortium in October last year.
OBI and Savills are the retained agents on 101 Barbirolli Square. OBI declined to comment, while Savills has been approached for comment.
