European investors are taking their pre-Brexit profits as UK institutional buyers step up their exposure to a growing (and relatively less internationally exposed) Manchester property market.

Is that the right way to understand Patrizia's decision to offload Peter House in a £45.1M deal with BP Pension Fund?

Patrizia has sold the 95K SF Peter House office building at a yield of 5.12%. This reflects the surge in interest in Manchester's Oxford Street due to Castlebrooke Investments/Baring's 180K SF Landmark speculative office scheme and a series of developments in neighbouring St. Peter's Square.

Peter House is occupied by Spaces, the flexible and collaborative working space brand owned by IWG, and has seen refurbishment and repositioning.

“We acquired Peter House because it was a landmark asset in an improving area of Manchester that was going to be the beneficiary of investment," Patrizia Fund Management Director Kim Sardar said. "Alongside that, we have successfully implemented an asset management plan that has delivered an institutional grade asset, the quality of which is reflected in the transaction we’ve been able to achieve on behalf of our clients."

The UK regional office markets scored investment totalling £1B in 2018, according to Avison Young's Big Nine report for Q4 2018. More than half of this went to Manchester, which claimed more than the other eight cities combined.

Patrizia was advised by King Street Commercial and CBRE, while Christopher Dee represented BP Pension Fund.