Bruntwood to remain in City Tower

Developer Bruntwood says it will remain in its City Tower headquarters following the sale to Schroders, and hasn't ruled out putting further buildings in its portfolio on the market in the future to fund development.

The sale of the 615,000 sq ft City Tower in Manchester to asset manager Schroders for £132m was confirmed last week. The 30-storey tower was put on the market in March following interest from international investors.

Chris Oglesby, chief executive of Bruntwood, confirmed that the firm would keep its head office in City Tower for at least a couple of years after its sale to Schroders. Agents speculated whether Bruntwood would be expected to leave its headquarters in City Tower following Schroder's purchase, as the vendor would be in a prime position to approach fellow tenants to relocate to other Bruntwood premises.

Speaking to Place North West at the Alderley Park handover event in Cheshire on Friday, Oglesby added: "We have a very significant development pipeline. Historically Bruntwood has taken buildings and refurbished them, repositioned them and let them, and it is important that we continue in a position where we are able to do that.

"There isn't anything actively that we are considering putting on the market, but I wouldn't rule out in the future recycling capital by selling buildings to continue to buy new projects for development."

Last week, Bruntwood's Manchester Science Parks took control of the 400-acre Alderley Park from former owners AstraZeneca, announcing an ongoing bioscience focus for site and a £5m investment from Bruntwood for supporting start-ups. A masterplan is expected to be revealed in the next six months.

MSP is a partnership between Bruntwood, Manchester City Council, Salford City Council, Cheshire East Council, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.