Virgin Media is relocating several regional offices into Manchester city centre in another major prelet deal for the city, boosting its overall take-up to around 940,000 square feet.
In May, CoStar News reported that the telecoms giant had drawn up a shortlist of four properties for its circa 50,000-square-foot requirement to move out of Manchester Airport, where it occupies more than 100,000 square feet at Concord Business Park.
Virgin Media has confirmed it will create a northern hub in Manchester that will host, among other teams, the company’s customer service agents who provide specialist support on a range of customer issues.
It has signed a 10-year deal for 45,700 square feet across the five top floors of HBD's £66 million Island office development on John Dalton Street.
The deal sees Virgin Media take around half of the office accommodation at the property, which is in the final stages of development, while it is one of the largest deals in the city and the wider regions this year.
Island is targeting BREEAM Excellent and 5.5* NABERS, housing 12,500 square feet of communal areas. HBD is working in joint venture with Greater Manchester Pension Fund on the development, which is due to complete this month.
The deal is an additional boost to the Manchester office market and pushes it to circa 1 million square feet of lettings for the first three quarters of the year. Local agents are predicting the city will get close to 1.3 million square feet of lettings by the end of the year, thanks to the flurry of larger deals.
They include Bank of New York Mellon's 200,000-square-foot letting at 4 Angel Square, and tech firm Arm's 68,860-square-foot deal at No1 St Michael's. Another huge deal that could yet complete this year is Auto Trader's move to Bruntwood SciTech's No 3 Circle Square, where it is set to take 130,000 square feet.
CBRE acted for Virgin Media on the Island deal, while OBI Property represented the landlord.