Warrington office deals to reach 300,000 sq ft in 2015
Office take-up in Warrington this year is expected to dip slightly below the 320,000 sq ft total for 2014, with the majority of transactions made up of smaller deals of below 10,000 sq ft.
In 2014, take-up in the Warrington borough reached 320,000 sq ft. The average for Warrington is usually around 300,000 sq ft.
According to Simon Roddam, head of agency at property consultancy BE Group, the number of transactions are up on last year, but are mainly between 5,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft, demonstrating demand for small-to-medium sized office space.
The largest letting in Warrington town this year was 25,000 sq ft to Amec Foster Wheeler in Washington House, owned by Pin Property.
Roddam said: “The Warrington office market in 2015 has in some ways been quite different to 2014, albeit still showing consistency in terms of actual take-up.
“We anticipate that Warrington will be in the region of around 300,000 sq ft, which is the long term average for take up in Warrington, however it won’t feature the quantum of large HQ movements we saw in 2014. That said, Birchwood occupier Hewlett Packard is currently in the market for 65,000 sq ft to 70,000 sq ft. Whilst a relocation in Warrington is a possibility, it is common knowledge that they are considering options in Manchester city centre.”
As well as considering new-build offices within Birchwood Park, it is understood that Hewlett Packard has also shortlisted English Cities Fund’s New Bailey and Ask Real Estate’s 101 Embankment, both in Salford, for a potential office move.
Warrington take-up is included within the wider ‘Warrington and environs’ figures collated by the Manchester Office Agents Forum, which also factors in deals within Daresbury, Halton and the East Lancs corridor.
According to MOAF, the total transacted in 2014 in Warrington and its environs in 2014 was 440,000 sq ft, led by large deals such as Ombudsman Service’s 41,000 sq ft letting at Building 1100 in Daresbury Park.
Similarly to the town centre market, the total is expected to fall in 2015 due to a lack of big office moves.