(This article has been updated to add further participants in making the deal happen).
The Government Property Agency is consolidating staff in Manchester, with some moving from London, and has signed a 25-year lease for 130,000 square feet of offices at 9A First Street in the northern city.
The deal was the largest office transaction in 2022 in Manchester, earning it a CoStar Impact Award.
Ask Real Estate and joint venture Partner The Richardson Family secured forward funding for the site from Pension Insurance Corporation, which will be investing £105 million. JLL acted for the GPA.
The space will house 2,500 civil servants from at least four different government departments, making it one of the largest hubs for cross-government collaboration and operation outside London. The move forms part of the government’s Places for Growth programme and underlines its commitment to levelling up with some 700 staff being relocated from Whitehall.
The GPA Hub is expected to reach a BREEAM minimum rating of Excellent and is anticipated as the first Manchester Office capable of a NABERS Design for Performance rating of a minimum of 5.5 Stars.
“We expect First Street to be the first development in an expanding partnership with the GPA as it looks to deliver its strategic roll out for 2025 and beyond,” said James Agar, head of long income at PIC.
Chris Mulcahy, director of National Office Agency and Tenant Representation at JLL said: “This transaction was happening at a time build costs were rising and yields were moving significantly making this deal quite a challenge … all parties worked very closely and transparently and it’s a good example of multiparty collaboration to make a deal happen.”
About the project: The Government Property Agency has signed a lease for 130,000 square feet of office space in Manchester.
What the judges said: “Its impact is quite impressive, supporting a significant aspect of government operational and growth objectives, and it also adds to the strategic positioning of the region, ” said Anupam Nanda, professor of urban economics and real estate at the University of Manchester.
They made it happen: Chris Mulcahy, director national office agency & tenant representation at JLL, Neil Mort, head of property management – North at CBRE, Felicity Lindsay and Tim Steele of lawyer Gowling WLG.
