Manchester’s Sunlight House up for grabs at £38m

Owner Abrdn has instructed agents to dispose of the historic 210,000 sq ft office building on the edge of Spinningfields.

The grade two-listed art deco Sunlight House extends to 14 storeys, and is combined with an adjoining 176-space multistorey car park.

Sunlight House boasts a current tenant roster including the Department for Levelling Up, Husing & Communities (which accounts for around 25% of rental income), St James’s Place Wealth Management and Charles Stanley.

Booking.com occupies around 62,000 sq ft at the building, but is to depart to Mancheter Goods Yard, a move expected to take place before the end of this year.

The Quay Street building, which sits just off Deansgate, has a current vacancy rate of 19%, space which is recently refurbished.

CBRE, which has been instructed to market the building, said “the asset provides numerous opportunities to add significant capital value through repositioning, releasing and regears”. According to the particulars, the average ent at the building is £22.40 per sq ft.

The quoting price of £38m is reflective of a 7.3% net initial yield and a low overall capital value of £182 per sq ft excluding car parking, the agent said.

Sunlight House had been put up for sale at £54m in April 2019 by the owner, then branded as Aberdeen Standard Investments, but the sale was pulled a few months later, with internal restructuring at the company cited.

Ardmac and ADT Workplace had completed refurb works of around £4m on the building the previous year.

Will Kennon, executive director at CBRE, is leading on the sale. He told Place North West: “The iconic and prestigious Grade II listed status of Sunlight House combined with the value add potential means we are anticipating strong interest from both Uk and overseas investors.”

Sunlight House was bought by Scottish Widows Investment Partners, part of Aberdeen Asset Management, from Aviva for £35m in 2014.

The Portland stone building was delivered in 1932 to designs by Joseph Sunlight, and was the tallest building in the city at the time.

Your Comments

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Portland Stone and Art Deco. Two of my favourite things. I’ve broken open my piggy bank and cashed in my ISA. Sadly I’m still a tad short.

By Tad Short

There isn’t much sale value in offices nowadays.

By Cal

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