LJ Group names team on Albert Square estate
Family office investor LJ Group has appointed OBI Property, Knight Frank and JLL to advise on a portfolio of four listed properties bought from Wrather & Co earlier this year in Albert Square, Manchester.
OBI will design, project manage and lease the multi-million pound refurbishment of the four buildings, with JLL as joint agent and Knight Frank as managing agent.
LJ Group purchased the buildings from Wrather for £16.3m an off-market deal in June.
The four buildings are the 19,200 sq ft Victoria Buildings, the 28,700 sq ft Northern Assurance Buildings, the 18,500 sq ft 2 Mount Street and the 4,300 sq ft St Andrew’s Chambers.
The properties total 71,000 sq ft, with 44,000 sq ft of offices and a mix of retail and restaurant units on the ground floors.
Sam Lawson Johnston, director of LJ Group, said: “By purchasing these four buildings it immediately provides us with a critical mass of accommodation within one of the most prominent and well recognised areas of Manchester.
“We intend to create a range of design-led workspaces to accommodate entrepreneurs seeking a single desk through to businesses requiring a headquarters building. These listed buildings are of historical importance and we intend to retain their character while modernising the office space, incorporating the latest technology to ensure they are super connected and appealing to leading regional, national and international businesses.”