It’s no secret that office occupier requirements have changed significantly over the past two years, with landlords and tenants rethinking the space needed to best suit evolving employee needs.
The role that a refurbishment can play in the delivery of quality workspace is becoming more important, and we have seen significant investment into refurbs in Manchester over the past few years.
Back in 2019 I commented on the changes we were seeing to reception spaces within Manchester office schemes, with business lounge style entrances and amenities such as coffee shops being a major draw for acquisitive tenants. This theme is now creeping into the office space itself with occupiers focusing on more collaboration and break out space to engage and attract staff back to the office.
Demand for fully fitted space – that is, space that is fully cabled and fitted with desks, ready for immediate occupation - has risen significantly in Manchester city centre, and is now appealing to businesses beyond the start-ups and scale-ups traditionally associated with this type of office. While at the onset of the pandemic we may have seen landlords create sub-3,000 sq ft of fitted space in their schemes, we are now seeing fit outs of up to 12,000 sq ft, as demand rises from a range of occupiers.
It’s easy to see why this option holds such an appeal. Not only does it save an occupier significant amounts of capital expenditure, it also saves them time - a crucial factor for many business looking to grow rapidly. This is also giving occupiers a degree of flexibility.
Such is the demand for fully fitted space that we are seeing tenants pay a premium, often of around 15 to 20 per cent on the rent per sq ft with limited or no incentives.
As a result of the growing levels of demand, Savills is working with a number of longstanding clients to bring to market new fitted opportunities, having recently completed a deal with gaming and software developer, Bally Interactive, on 5,800 sq ft at APAM’s 60 Spring Gardens (pictured above). Following the success here, APAM has now also brought to market a fitted suite of 5,050 sq ft at its Cornerblock scheme, which is already attracting interest from occupiers that most likely would not have considered the building had the suite not been an option.
Additionally, at Helical’s Trinity scheme, the landlord is using the 7,902 sq ft of fitted space as a show suite, to showcase the level of quality that the whole scheme has to offer, with the suite playing a key role in leasing space throughout the rest of the building.
Of course there remains a huge market for traditional office space, and we don’t see this changing any time soon. However, the pool of occupiers than can benefit from taking fitted space has grown and if landlords can capitalise on this and are willing to provide the flexibility, it certainly puts them in a favourable position.
Further information
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