Office space across the commercial property market in Manchester is set to hit the one million sq ft mark in 2013, according to OBI Property.
The north-west property advisors argued that the first quarter of the year had seen a 61 per cent increase of office space, compared to this time last year. The market in the city centre had seen a mammoth 274,900 sq ft being taken up across 64 transactions in the first three months of 2013, whilst the leasehold take-up was 90,000 sq ft higher than the first quarter in 2012, now standing at 254,009 sq ft. Highlights within these transactions included Worldpay taking 22,000 sq ft at Credit Suisse's 3 Hardman Square and Traveljigsaw taking 63,000 sq ft at Sunlight House.
Will Lewis, partner of OBI Property, said: "The amount of office space let in Manchester city centre during Q1 this year is up 61 per cent on the same quarter compared to last year. While the number of deals completed are similar, the size of the average letting is larger."
Mr Lewis went on to argue that landlords are offering fewer incentives than before due to this rise in demand. With tenants no longer experiencing rent-free periods or rental discounts, they now have to hit quoted rents in a competitive market.
"Should the market maintain the level of activity we've seen in the first quarter of this year, the city would break the one million sq ft mark, which exceeds the average take-up over the past five years. Manchester continues to outperform all other regional cities,” he added.
Mr Lewis will be speaking at Insider's North West Business of Property Conference 2013, alongside 11 other speakers such as Theresa Grant, chief executive at Trafford Council, Peter Crowther, development director at Bruntwood, and Benjamin Du Boulay, director of the Carlyle Group. The conference will be taking place on May 23rd.