New occupiers secured at St. James’s Tower as investment into building continues apace

OBI has announced a double letting at St James’s Tower in Manchester, after it carried out a full refurbishment of its 7th and 14th floors.

Both floors were delivered fully fitted, with meeting rooms, kitchen, and reception/waiting areas, including furniture to provide ‘plug & play’ workspace. The seventh floor was sub-divided to accommodate smaller requirements of 1,100 sq ft and 1,700 sq ft, with OBI providing interior design and project management services on behalf of the landlord.

Ahead of the completion of the works, OBI’s transactions and asset management team pre-let the 14th floor to BB Legal Ltd, extending to 3,000 sq ft and a suite of 1,100 sq ft to Taylors Solicitors on the part 7th.

Richard Lace from OBI’s transactions and asset management team said: ‘The investment from the landlord to provide fully-furnished suites was rewarded with two transactions from occupiers looking for workspace that they could move into quickly, with minimal capital expenditure on transparent, all-inclusive rents, and on flexible terms with a short-form lease agreement.

“It’s highly likely that as the effects of COVID continue to be felt by businesses and the office market, this type of offering will experience increasing demand”.

Following the successful transactions agreed with BB Legal and Taylors Solicitors, OBI, acting as the landlord’s asset manager, have subsequently agreed to deliver a similar hybrid leasing solution on

the 12th floor, the final remaining full floor in the building, to attract further high-calibre occupiers to the building.

Richard Lace added “We’ve been quick to adapt at OBI, helping our clients navigate the new office landscape and continuing to secure them the best outcomes possible. St. James’s Tower is a brilliant example of how a proactive “hands on” Landlord, providing a range of workspace solutions and supplemented by good quality on-site amenity, can secure new occupiers even during the current challenging backdrop”.

It was also recently announced that managed workspace provider Regus had launched a new centre at the building. Regus who have taken the part ground, first, fourth and fifth floors will offer flexible workspace as well as meeting and conferencing facilities which will add further amenity to benefit their tenants and occupiers of the wider building.