Since its recent acquisition of the 435,000 sq ft Exchange Quay office development in Salford Quays, Ekistics Property Advisors LLP (Ekistics) has assembled a team to continue the development’s evolution and has already secured its first deal since taking ownership.
Once dubbed the ‘Canary Wharf of the north’, Exchange Quay is one of the largest office developments in the North West and has been transformed by Hunter Real Estate Investment Managers (Hunter) in recent years with a £10m investment to upgrade the scheme to Grade A specification as well as extensive remodelling of the public realm, the introduction of several retail outlets and occupier amenities and a children’s day nursery. Over 3,000 people now work at Exchange Quay and Ekistics will build upon the success to-date through its newly appointed team.
Hunter has been retained as asset manager, with Knight Frank appointed as joint letting agent with Canning O’Neill. DS Emotion has been instructed to work alongside retained PR agency, Space PR, to refresh the marketing and develop interaction and communication amongst the on-site Exchange Quay community.
The acquisition by Ekistics follows on from a series of high profile lettings. In a 12 month period, over 200,000 sq ft of office lettings completed at Exchange Quay to a range of occupiers from media start-ups to call centres, back office operations and larger organisations. These include JLA, AJ Bell, Space & Time Media, insurance firm 1st Central, American conglomerate 3M, Beauty Bay, Bo-Concepts, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), Sage, Wurth Electronics and North West Employers.
Ekistics has already secured its first occupier with multinational fashion and apparel company, Poeticgem Limited, taking 3,156 sq ft of office accommodation in Building No 8.
Exchange Quay’s six office buildings range from 26,151 sq ft to 116,684 sq ft and there is currently 110,000 sq ft available to let within the scheme, with a quoting rent of £18.00 per sq ft. The next phase of refurbishment will be within the 26,000 sq ft Building No 3 where high quality space will be available from 1,000 sq ft upwards.
Axel Waldecker, Director at Ekistics, commented;
“We are delighted to assemble our team and unveil the future plans for Exchange Quay. The development now offers tenants the whole experience, from on-site retail, restaurants and coffee shops, a day nursery, bike hub and a Pure Gym. In addition, the scheme benefits from a Metrolink Station right on its doorstep and over 2000 car parking spaces. It is hard to find a better all round proposition in the whole of the North West of England and we are looking forward to adding further value through enhanced tenant engagement and continued investment into the development. “
Exchange Quay lies at the gateway to Salford Quays/Media City, approximately 1.5 miles to the southwest of Manchester City Centre. It boasts its own dedicated Metrolink tram stop and is strategically located just off Trafford Road which links Salford Quays to both Manchester City Centre and the major motorway networks via the M602.
