Muse lets office at Stockport Exchange

Global chemicals firm BASF has leased 21,500 sq ft across two floors at Muse Developments’ 2 Stockport Exchange for its UK headquarters, relocating from current premises in Cheadle.

The 61,500 sq ft building has six floors and is due for completion next month by main contractor GMI Construction Group. The scheme is part of Muse and Stockport Council’s £145m Stockport Exchange redevelopment, which started last November and will comprise 375,000 sq ft of office space and 28,000 sq ft of retail and commercial space once complete.

Stockport Exchange comes within Stockport’s wider £1bn regeneration programme, which includes a new transport interchange, 3,500 homes and up to 1m sq ft of commercial space to rejuvenate the town centre.

Improvements to the historic Market Place to create a thriving leisure destination have already been undertaken, and there are plans to upgrade the Merseyway Shopping Centre.

BASF’s new office features a striking design including a stone façade. Muse plans to deliver a fully-accessible commercial and retail space and public realm improvements alongside the existing leisure centre and Holiday Inn hotel adjacent to Stockport railway station. The deal with BASF is the first pre-let for the scheme, first reported by Place North West last May.

German BASF has been operating in the UK since 1880, and supplies raw materials, such as agriculture, automotive chemicals, construction, energy and pharmaceuticals, to businesses.

Richard Carter, managing director of BASF in the UK and Ireland, said: “We are looking forward to moving our UK headquarters from Cheadle to this exciting new connected location later this year. Our new office space in Stockport Exchange is part of an ongoing Future of Work project which will deliver a better workplace experience through improved digitalisation, increased flexibility and empowered leadership.”

Cllr David Meller, cabinet member for economy and regeneration at Stockport Council, said: “Our vision for Stockport Exchange is to attract internationally renowned companies [to the town].

“The fact that BSF has decided to relocate to the town centre and has committed to securing two floors of office space shows real confidence in Stockport Exchange and the town as a great place to do business.”

Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE are joint agents for the scheme while JLL advised BASF.

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