BT’s Manchester office to secure £12m loan
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is set to sign off a loan to Worthington Properties to fund the fit-out of the 116,000 sq ft office in Manchester, due to be managed by Spaces on behalf of BT.
The GMCA has been recommended to agree a £6m loan at its meeting on Friday, with the remainder coming from the North West Evergreen Fund. This mezzanine loan facility will support the fit-out works for Spaces, which was revealed to be taking the whole building by Place North West in April this year.
Spaces subsequently agreed a deal with BT to manage the whole building on behalf of the telecoms provider, a move again tipped by Place this summer. This is on a three-year managed contract for BT, which has a longer-running requirement for between 150,000 sq ft and 200,000 sq ft.
Last year, fellow co-working operator WeWork was tipped to take 45,000 sq ft, but negotiations stalled during the Christmas period.
There is also 11,000 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor; the building is set to complete next year.
The agents for 125 Deansgate are Savills and Knight Frank, with Cheetham & Mortimer on the retail element. The shell-and-core of the building has now been completed by Worthington’s in-house contractor.
The GMCA’s loan is due to be agreed on Friday 27 September; this will be to Worthington Mancap, an LLP made up of Deansgate Investments, a Worthington special purpose vehicle; and KH III Properties 609, a company based in Jersey. Russell Worthington is listed as having significant control over the LLP on Companies House.
