Schroder Real Estate Investment Management (”Schroders”) has secured a further 47,500 sq ft of new office lettings at City Tower, Manchester, taking total new secured income post its refurbishment of the vertical business district to over £1.4million.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (“NICE”) has completed a new 10-year lease extension with a seven-year break on 46,350 sq ft of space at podium level. The rent of £973,350, or £21 per sq ft, reflects an uplift of 15% on the previous rent paid.
Schroders has also agreed a new 10-year lease with Charterfields chartered surveyors for 1,247 sq ft on the 22nd floor. The new letting doubles Charterfields’ occupation within City Tower and reflects a rent of £25 per sq ft.
Schroders recently completed a major refurbishment of City Tower to provide 36,400 sq ft of high quality office space, across four floors of 9,100 sq ft, as well as repositioning of the ground floor reception and lift lobbies throughout the building to support the 3,000 people who work there.
In February, Schroders announced it had secured new lettings and regears with more than five tenants, including an 18,000 sq ft regear to Hays and a new 9,000 sq ft lease with iHub.
City Tower is owned in a joint venture held between Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, the actively managed UK REIT, Schroder UK Real Estate Fund and Immobilien Europa Direkt.
Tom Newman, Investment Manager at Schroder Real Estate, commented:
“Securing these new long-term lettings at City Tower further validates our strategy to reposition the asset and take advantage of the city centres rental growth, delivering strong returns for our investors. It also provides a good example of our winning cities approach, as the attributes of diversification, modern infrastructure and quality of life means the asset is well positioned to out-perform in the coming years, as both a beneficiary of a more independent UK and in a period when new commercial development is likely to be fairly modest.
“We continue to see strong occupier demand from a diverse range of tenants for the good quality commercial space that we have created, as well as ongoing interest in the recently refurbished spaces. Our strategy for the asset remains focused on more lettings, whilst further enhancing the retail offer and where possible, investment into the wider realm for the benefit of City Tower and the surrounding environment.”
About City Tower
Since acquisition in 2014, Schroders has undertaken a capital expenditure programme, appointing architects Sheppard Robson to enhance the reception, central mall area, common parts and vacant offices to deliver high quality office space, capitalising on a shortage of good quality refurbished office accommodation in Manchester City Centre. Since then, Schroders has welcomed a number of new tenants to the building which include LG Energy Group, Access Systems, Godel, Saffery Champness and property management company MJ Mapp.
City Tower today offers 340,000 sq ft of office space, including the highest commercial office space in Manchester, as well as a 280-bed four star hotel, operated by the Mercure Hotels group, and 67,992 sq ft of retail space across 23 units where tenants include Marks & Spencer, The Alchemist Bar, and Grill on New York Street restaurant. Occupiers of City Tower also benefit from 456 car parking spaces and 200 cycle bays.
Colliers International and CBRE act as Leasing Adviser to Schroders.
