Kamani Property acquires Knott Mill warehouse

Architecture practice SimpsonHaugh has sold an office building in the Knott Mill area of Manchester city centre to family-owned Kamani Property Group for an undisclosed sum.

The 13,000 sq ft former warehouse at 8 Hewitt Street falls within the SimpsonHaugh-designed Knott Mill masterplan for an area off Deansgate bordered by the River Medlock, Renaker’s Owen Street development and Whitworth Street West.

The masterplan, led by Manchester City Council, covers both existing buildings and vacant development plots, which it proposes to transform into 124,000 sq ft of commercial space and 154 apartments.

Kamani Property Group is one of the diversified business holdings of Manchester-based Mahmud Kamani, the co-founder of online fashion retailers Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.

The businessman is named on Companies House as one of the directors of Kamani Property Group, which has a portfolio of commercial real estate across the UK and beyond, in New York, Dubai and Mumbai.

His brother Jalal, Boohoo co-founder, sold his shares in Boohoo to his children for a reported £15m in 2018 and set up I Saw It First, another womenswear e-tailer based on Robert Street, Manchester.

Kamani Property Group purchased the entire building at 8 Hewitt Street before Christmas and plans to occupy part of the building as its new headquarters, relocating from its current office on Dale Street in March or April this year.

The company declined to say how much space it wishes to occupy, but the five-storey building will remain as offices partly tenanted by other occupiers, and Kamani Property intends to re-fit out the communal areas and its new office space only.

Current tenants at the building include charity Forever Manchester, entertainment and hospitality outfit Mission Mars and Zecol Thomas, according to Companies House. Another tenant, Mobedia Holdings, is understood to have exited recently.

Adam Kamani, chief executive of Kamani Property Group, told Place North West: “Kamani is very excited to be starting a new chapter in its new headquarters, located in Manchester City Centre’s dynamic Knott Hill district.

“Due to the extent that we have grown over the last two years, it was crucial that we looked into future-proofing the business for the next couple of years.

“With that in mind, one of the key things we needed to do was expand our HQ, to give us the flexibility to grow and increase our team in line with our ongoing and forthcoming projects.

“This building, in particular, resonates with our brand in terms of its character, and the internal layout allows us to have the flexibility to maintain our open plan office, which is a fundamental part of our company’s culture.”

The former mill building covers over 13,000 sq ft with lower ground, ground and three upper floors.

OBI acted as agents for Kamani Property Group. SimpsonHaugh declined to provide further information on the sale.