Real estate investment and asset manager APAM, on behalf of the landlord Britannia Invest, has let office space at the Grade II-listed Bridgewater House on Whitworth Street, Manchester to DFH Financial Solutions. Savills represented APAM in the deal.
The firm has agreed a new five-year lease for 6,920 sq ft (643 sq m) of first floor space. The deal follows the expansion of Beech Construction, which acquired 5,300 sq ft (465 sq m) on the property’s second floor in March 2018, in addition to 1,000 sq ft (93 sq m) already occupied on the third floor.
Bridgewater House offers more than 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) of high quality office accommodation across 10 storeys and features many original characteristics, including cast iron columns, exposed brickwork and historic lift shafts.
APAM, on behalf of Britannia Invest, has invested over £1 million into refurbishing the reception area, to create a business lounge with coffee shop, meeting pods and informal seating areas as well as a state of the art cycle hub, changing facilities and free WiFi. A second phase of works has also seen a number of office suites be refurbished.
Daniel Barnes, associate director in the office agency team at Savills, comments: “Bridgewater House is now a hive of activity and it is great to have secured this deal with DFH, building on the momentum of recent lettings to Beech Construction and Manchester City Council. The strong levels of occupier interest reflect the great location and on-site amenities offered by the building.”
Pete Owen, senior asset manager at APAM, adds: “It is fantastic to see the work that has gone in to transforming the reception at Bridgewater House paying off with a series of new lettings. We are currently in the process of refurbishing a number of the office suites to provide an exposed services specification that compliments the heritage of the building and is attracting strong occupier interest. It is hugely rewarding to see strong occupier activity at Bridgewater House, which offers prime office space and first-rate amenities in Manchester’s city centre.”
DFH Financial Solutions was represented by both LSH & David Boddington. Savills is joint letting agent at the property with OBI.
