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After a series of wrong numbers, BT has dialled up a deal to take 200K SF at English Cities Funds' New Bailey office development, Salford.
A new purpose-built block to sit alongside the three existing office buildings at New Bailey is anticipated, Place North West reported.
The BT requirement has been transfixing Manchester office agents since late last year. The smart money had been on BT landing at Bruntwood SciTech's Circle Square where a new block of around 250K SF was earmarked for the telecoms business.
Ask's First Street office scheme was also short-listed. Chosing First Street would have meant a return to the site of its original Manchester HQ, which BT departed in 2006.
The developer at New Bailey is a consortium of Muse, Legal & General and Homes England.
The New Bailey scheme began with the 125K SF One New Bailey, where the principal tenant is law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and which is all-but fully let. Two New Bailey is under construction, with 50K SF of the 188K SF block pre-let to Eversheds. Three New Bailey totals 157K SF and has been pre-let to HM Revenue and Customs.
In a related move, BT has agreed to take 116K SF of temporary space from IWG's flexible space operator Spaces at 125 Deansgate. The white-space deal is understood to envisage three years of occupancy.
IWG UK Chief Executive Richard Morris confirmed the signing speaking at a Bisnow event in London last week.
"We did a deal for a large employer in the UK for 4,500 people, BT, in Manchester just two months ago," Morris said.
"A traditional company, they are deciding that they want to go for two years at a time, they want it all taken care of, they don't want to manage the fit-out. From the point of view of convenience, of productivity, of agility, because it enables them to practice agile working, large companies are going to want to adopt flexible workspace."
Earlier this week the construction arm of Marcus Worthington, the developer at 125 Deansgate, fell into administration, Place NorthWest reports.
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