Wrecking ball readied for Virgin’s former Manchester HQ
The 124,000 sq ft Concord House in Wythenshawe, empty after the telecoms firm relocated staff to a new office in Manchester city centre, is to be demolished to pave the way for the site’s redevelopment into an industrial complex.
Global Mutual, acting for landlord Karlin Real Estate, has submitted plans to Manchester City Council to clear Virgin’s former Shadowmoss Road site and build three industrial units.
A planning statement prepared by Savills states there is a “clear lack of tenant demand” for the existing building, which has prompted the decision to reposition the 7.4-acre site.
In place of Concord House, part of the wider Concord Business Park close to Manchester Airport and home to Virgin from 1991, Karlin Real Estate wants to build a hat-trick of two-storey warehouse units totalling close to 130,000 sq ft.
The three units would offer 34,000 sq ft, 43,000 sq ft, and 51,500 sq ft respectively.
Virgin, which became Virgin O2 in 2021 after a merger, vacated the site last year after signing a 10-year lease on HBD and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund’s Island on John Dalton Street in 2024.
The team moved in late last year.
Karlin acquired Concord House from Legal & General Investment Management for £19.7m in 2017.
The Harris Partnership is leading on design. Heyne Tillett Steel, Stantec, Gillespies, OFR, RPP, Cudd Bentley Consulting, Adail, Envance, and ACS Consulting are also advising.
To learn more, search for reference number 144802/FO/2025 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.
Urgh, warehouses on land with good links to public transport and healthcare. Perfect for housing.
By Anthony
What about housing ?
By Rod
So how are all the lorries that will serve these units access the site? There’s no direct access to the airport relief road off shadowmoss road, so it looks like they will be clogging up the local roads and junctions to get to the relief road and then the motorway. Totally unacceptable.
By Paul
At this rate, there will be no offices left in South Manchester
By Captain Trubshaw
To answer Captain Trubshaw, that might no bad thing in the sense that offices in the centre create economic opportunities for the whole of GM
By Rich X