Schroder Real Estate Investment Management (“Schroders”) has secured more than 10,000 sq ft of office lettings at City Tower, its vertical business district in central Manchester, including welcoming two new tenants to the 30-storey building.
Access Systems, an IT business solutions provider, has agreed a five-year lease for 5,341 sq ft on the 18th floor of the iconic building;
Tech company GCE has agreed a five-year lease for 1,256 sq ft of space on the same floor;
Current tenant Systra, the transport planning and engineering services consultancy, has committed to a five-year lease extension for 3,838 sq ft on the 16th floor;
Starbucks has relocated to a new 2,529 sq ft ground floor premises, which can be accessed from inside City Tower. The new Starbucks will be one of the first in the UK to offer the much-vaunted Nitro Cold Brew Coffee, Starbucks’ newest trend, brought to the UK from the USA earlier this year.
Schroders completed a major refurbishment of City Tower earlier this year, on 36,400 sq ft of office space across four floors, as well as repositioning the ground floor reception and lift lobbies throughout the building.
City Tower was recently named as one of the first buildings in Manchester to receive a Wired Certified Gold rating for its digital infrastructure. The building provides tenants with enhanced access to the best broadband connectivity possible, including the number and quality of internet service providers, ease of installation and capacity to readily support new telecom services. The new rating further reinforces City Tower’s position as one of the most desirable office locations in the country.
Rob Cosslett, Investment Manager at Schroder Real Estate, commented:
“Manchester is fast becoming a central hub for tech-focused business and we welcome Access Systems and GCE to City Tower, as the industry continues to forge ahead.
“Digital connectivity is among the top three most important factors for tenants searching for office space, along with cost and location. We have worked hard to ensure the digital infrastructure in place at City Tower guarantees connectivity which is protected and adaptable to the tenants.”
Schroders is also working with local businesses to launch an exclusive ‘City Tower Black Card’ for tenants providing access to a whole host of discounts, events and wider initiatives across Manchester. This will also include a bespoke event package as well as a dedicated Health & Wellbeing programme accessible to all within the building.
Rob added: “With more than 3,000 people working in City Tower from a cross-sector of businesses, we want to ensure we are creating and fostering a sense of community and place.
“This is becoming ever more important in attracting and retaining tenants and we are working with our current and prospective occupiers to ensure our approach is aligned with their requirements.”
Scott Shufflebottom, Senior Surveyor at Colliers International, said:
“Manchester has become a tech hub to contend with on a global scale.
“Having current tenants like GCE and Access Systems extend their leases here at City Tower is fantastic. We not only pride ourselves in fostering a sense of community and place, but having the ability to facilitate key requirements of tenants. The recent Wired Score rating goes a long way to show that technology has an important effect on business operations.”
Schroders appointed independent property advisory company, Edwards & Co last month to further strengthen the agency team at City Tower.
Richard Dinsdale, Director of Edwards & Co, said:
“City Tower is a landmark building and a prominent fixture across Manchester’s skyline. Schroders recent refurbishment project has created an attractive offer for prospective tenants and we are looking forward to working with the team to capitalise on this.”
City Tower is owned in a joint venture held between Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, the actively managed UK REIT, Schroder UK Real Estate Fund and Immobilien Europa Direkt.
