Work begins on 173,000 sq ft First Street office building

Construction work is now underway on a 173,600 sq ft office building at First Street in the centre of Manchester.

The seven-storey Number 8 building will become a centrepiece of the wider 20-acre development, which includes cultural arts centre HOME, supermarket Sainsbury’s, a Pizza Express restaurant and a Q-Park-branded car park, in addition to street food eatery The Indian Tiffin Room and the 208-room INNSIDE hotel.

The building has been been forward-funded by the £400m Greater Manchester Property Fund (GMPVF), as part of a joint venture with the owners of First Street, PATRIZIA UK.

James Muir, the managing director of PATRIZIA UK and Ireland, said: “First Street has proved to be one of the prime office locations in the City and we are delighted to see the start of work on this latest building.

“There is certainly demand out there from occupiers and investors such as GMPVF which are keen to back such successful schemes.”

Ahead of completion, the office site has been partially let to Russian natural gas firm Gazprom, which signed up for 39,570 sq ft of space.

Tameside Borough Council’s Cllr Susan Quinn commented: “GMPVF has a long history of investing in developments in Greater Manchester to achieve its twin aims of commercial returns for the Pension Fund and positive impact in the area; we are delighted to be working with PATRIZIA on this prestigious development which follows on from our success at 1 St Peter’s Square.”

Ask Real Estate Limited (AREL), the Manchester-based property developer, has been tasked with managing the site’s construction.

AREL’s managing director, John Hughes, said: “First Street is an essential mixed-use scheme in the heart of city centre and this latest office building will bring more people and businesses into Manchester.

“Demand for high quality office space is extremely strong from companies looking to move into the centre from outlying areas.”

John added: “By being based at a great location such as First Street they can attract a higher calibre of staff who in turn have access to be best local amenities.”

Designs for Number 8 were created by Fletcher Priest Architects.

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