The Government Property Unit has selected New Bailey in Manchester for the first 175,000 sq ft phase of its hub requirement.
Muse Developments, Legal & General and the Homes & Communities Agency’s £650m New Bailey fought off competition from four other shortlisted sites:
■ Hermes Investment Management and the Co-op’s NOMA;
■ Bruntwood and Select Property Group’s £750m Circle Square;
■ Patrizia and Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund’s First Street development; and
■ U+I, LCR, Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester’s £850m Mayfield development, next to Piccadilly station
It is understood New Bailey was favoured due to its proximity to HMRC-let Trinity Bridge House, a 250,000 sq ft office building in Salford with a lease expiring in 2028, thus allowing the GPU to create a government hub at the same time as reducing costs.
The hub in Manchester was initially planned to be up to around 850,000 sq ft, with an initial 370,000 sq ft requirement for the first phase.
Despite the significant scaling back of the first phase, further major requirements for Manchester totalling up to 600,000 sq ft are still expected to come forward via JLL, the GPU’s appointed adviser.
English Cities Fund, the joint venture between Muse, L&G and the HCA, has already completed One New Bailey, a 125,000 sq ft office building majority let to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Construction has started on the 188,000 sq ft Two New Bailey, and the area has capacity to support a further three office buildings.
All parties declined to comment.
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