MOAF reports best quarter since 2010 as annual take-up hits 1.3m sq ft

The final quarter of 2016 was the most fruitful in the Manchester central office market since 2010, with 621,016 sq ft let in 83 transactions, the Manchester Office Agents Forum has said.

The figures take overall take up for 2016 to 1,306,599 sq ft, roughly on a par with the 2015 and 2014 figures, both of which also exceeded 1.3m sq ft.

Key transactions included the 165,005 sq ft deal with Swinton Insurance at Ask’s 101 Embankment – the largest single deal in the market – a 45,446 sq ft letting to Co-op Digital at Federation House, NOMA and 63,661 sq ft of space sold to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) at 6 Marlborough Street in the city centre.

New build office schemes including No. 1 Spinningfields and XYZ building also announced deals on over 50,000 sq ft in the final quarter as supply continues to tighten.

Over the course of the year, Salford Quays performed strongly, with 314,923 sq ft transacted in the year, while South Manchester saw 546,701 sq ft let, compared to 563,453 sq ft in 2015.

John Nash, director at Canning O’Neill and MOAF spokesman, said: “Overall the market has shown resilience and take-up across Manchester has remained remarkably consistent. The EU referendum certainly made a few pause for thought but the underlying strength of the occupier market shone through in the final figures.

“Rents across the city have continued to see steady growth, with quoting rents for refurbished office space now at £30 per sq ft.”

CBRE topped the landlord disposals table for total space let in the city centre across 39 transactions.

For city centre tenant acquisitions, WHR acquired the largest amount of space, with 171,716 sq ft taken across just four deals.

Formed in 2009, MOAF members include CBRE, Colliers, Canning O’Neill, Cushman & Wakefield, Edwards & Co, GVA, JLL, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Matthews & Goodman, OBI Property, Savills, TSG Property Consultants, WHR Property Consultants and BE Group.