Ball PARK FIGURES
While conventional wisdom suggests that a dynamic London economy has a ripple effect into other parts of the UK, it seems that the same criteria can be applied to Manchester.
The strong performance of the city centre property market and the economy spills out into other parts of Greater Manchester and other parts of the North West.
It certainly helps Warrington which has also created its own individual success story, particularly at Birchwood Park. Patrizia, which manages the park, has created a central hub into an integrated meet, eat and workspace for occupiers and the general public known as the EngineRooms.
Martin O’Rourke of Birchwood said: “The development of the EngineRooms is our most exciting renovation on the park to date.” The park now has 165 businesses employing 6,000 people.
Apart from Birchwood Park, other parts of Warrington have enjoyed a good market, such as Eagle Park where Penlaw, a drywall distributor, has leased 1,305 sq metres (14,049 sq ft), the last of the 13 units, through JLL.
Richard Johnson of JLL said: “With more Grade A estates like this becoming fully occupied, including the nearby Taurus Park, it is important for landlords to refurbish to a high standard where it is necessary to modernise older stock, which can be a key differential in capturing demand."
Another local deal was the sale of a 557 sq metres office unit at Ibis Court, Centre Park, to Moorland Property Solutions who intend refurbishing it.
Daniel Barnes of Savills who acted for the seller, District Estates, said: “We have seen increased interest in opportunities around Centre Park."
Like Warrington, Crewe has become a major hub for distribution and industrial space with one of the latest schemes, the 10,405 sq metres (112,000 sq ft) Q110 facility at Weston Road owned by Cabot Properties and Quorum Estates, being completed by Caddick Construction.
Ian Threadgold of Caddick said: “This is an exciting time for the North West with several large-scale infrastructure projects converging to make the region better integrated with the UK economy."
Caddick also constructed Tunstall Arrow at nearby Stoke-on-Trent, a speculative 12,077 sq metres (130,000 sq ft) scheme by Network Space in partnership with the city council, which is now fully let only a few months after completion. It had grant funding from the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone Development Fund.
Richard Munsey of Mounsey Surveyors said: “All units were let or under offer before practical completion which is a first for us. We are not aware of any other speculative scheme where this has been achieved.”