No1 St Michael’s fills up in Manchester

Now able to boast a fully let badge, the £120m office block from Gary Neville’s Relentless Developments and US investor KKR has secured a tenant for its final 3,000 sq ft food and beverage unit ahead of opening in spring 2025.

The name of the operator has not yet been revealed, but Place understands it is a cocktail and coffee operator with London roots. Opening at the 200,000 sq ft No1 St Michael’s would mark the unnamed brand’s Northern debut.

Earlier this year, London-based cocktail and coffee operator Grind submitted a premises licence application to Manchester City Council for an undisclosed location. Grind has five cafés, six coffee shops, and three coffee trucks in London.

There is no direct link between the licence application and the letting at No1 St Michael’s, but Grind does appear to fit the bill for the new occupier.

Relentless declined to comment on the matter. Grind did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.

No1 St Michael’s has proven to be a popular destination despite being still under construction. The nine-floor office block has broken the headline rent record in Manchester three times, with Channel 4 nabbing the last available office space in October.

Other tenants include law firms Pinsent Mason and Hill Dickinson, flex workspace provider Gilbanks, microchip designer Arm, and financial intelligence company S&P Global.

No1 St Michael’s has three food and beverage units. The unnamed latest entry would sit at the building’s ground floor alongside Big Mamma Holdings, a French-based restaurateur that specialises in Italian cuisine. The Big Mamma Holdings restaurant will also lay claim to part of the first floor and provide outdoor dining. Meanwhile, heading skyward, Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Chotto Matte operate from the building’s top floor.

Agents for No1 St Michael’s include CBRE, OBI Property, and Metis Real Estate. Kuits Solicitors provided legal advice for the tenancy agreements.

Remarking on the building’s fully pre-let status, Relentless’s Neville said: “It was a huge leap of faith to speculatively build a development in excess of 200,000 sq ft but we’ve always been confident in our ambition for the building.

“We spent a great deal of time understanding what modern occupiers want from an office and ensured we carefully selected the right amenities and F&B operators into the development,” he continued.

“We also recognised sustainability was crucial and invested heavily in time and capital to ensure our ESG credentials met the aspirations of our tenants.”

KKR head of asset management for Europe, Nicky Barker, added: “In today’s market, top tenants expect world-class sustainability, a prime location and distinctive amenities – these have become crucial drivers of long-term value.

“This was the vision we shared with Relentless when collaborating on the development of St. Michael’s, a vision now affirmed by the project’s success in setting new benchmarks for Manchester’s real estate market.”

Bowmer + Kirkland is the main contractor for No1 St Michael’s, having started work on the scheme in 2022. Construction is due to complete at the end of this year, to allow for fit-out works ahead of the spring opening.

No1 St Michael’s is just one part of Relentless’s £400m St Michael’s scheme. The developer partnered with Salboy to deliver the second part – a 41-storey skyscraper loaded with 217 apartments and a 162-room hotel, both operated by Marriott Group’s W brand. The apartments are expected to be the most expensive in Manchester, with prices ranging from £350,000 to £6m.

Domis is on site constructing the second phase, which has an estimated opening date of 2027.

Both aspects of St Michael’s were designed by Hodder + Partners.