Allied sets date for Cotton start

Allied London said work is due to start on the construction of the next office building in Spinningfields in late spring 2014, with "several prospective tenants currently finalising lease agreements."

Michael Ingall, chief executive of Allied London, said: "This will be the first building of its kind in the UK. We're leading a new trend that many aspiring developers are chasing. The Cotton Building will deliver the ultimate in flexible workspace and further strengthens Spinningfields' offer."

Allied is committed to building Cotton speculatively but is understood to have several floors already in advanced discussions with potential occupiers. Completion is due in September 2015.

The project is Allied London's response to predictions about how business will work in the future, allowing for more bespoke space and services, reflected in flexible pricing.

The building will contain nine floors with floor to ceiling heights of 4m, Cotton is aimed at creative firms, call centre operators and more traditional office occupiers.

There will be a total of 160,000 sq ft with 20,000 sq ft floorplates, plus 30,000 sq ft of public amenity space for tenants including a bike park, climbing wall, leisure facilities and start-up and co-working space.

The site is to the rear of the development between the RBS back-office and the Civil Justice Centre, currently a grass area.

Deloitte Real Estate advised on the planning application. The building was designed by Cartwright Pickard.

John Cooper, director in the planning team at Deloitte Real Estate said: "It's great news that The Cotton Building plans have been passed without exception. Spinningfields is the ideal location to launch such an exciting new concept in real estate and we're pleased to have been a facilitator of what is sure to be an extremely successful scheme."

OBI Property is joint letting agent, with Allied London due to announce the second agent soon.