Eversheds Sutherland's decision to pre-let 45K SF at English Cities Fund's 190K SF speculative Two New Bailey makes it seem like the second quarter could be as pre-let heavy as Q1 in the increasingly steamy Manchester office market.

The law firm will move from the 70K SF block at Great Bridgewater Street it pre-let in 1999 to the £113M scheme funded by Aviva and underwritten by a 25-year lease to Salford City Council.

Eversheds already had a starring role in the Manchester Q1 office market, advising HM Revenue & Customs on its 158K SF letting next door at Three New Bailey, also pre-let from the English Cities Fund.

First quarter data from the Manchester Office Agents Forum shows takeup of office space in Manchester city centre was more than double the same period in 2017, reaching 442K SF.

Takeup was also sharply up in South Manchester, where deals totalled 178K SF, an increase of 27% compared to the same period in 2017.

According to Deloitte's 2018 Manchester Crane Survey, 532K SF of new city centre office space is due for completion this year, with a further 922K SF due for completion in 2019.

“The pre-lettings at New Bailey are a watershed for the city,” Cushman & Wakefield partner Rob Yates said. “We have long been of the view that the supply of quality office accommodation is constrained and savvy occupiers are having to respond to this by committing to pre-lets. This deal is a significant milestone for Manchester.

“After a strong start we expect the final 2018 takeup figure will top 1M SF for the fifth consecutive year.”

Formed in 2009, MOAF members include Avison Young, BE Group, CBRE, Colliers International, Canning O’Neill, Cushman & Wakefield, Edwards & Co, GVA, Hallams Property Consultants, JLL, Knight Frank, LSH, Matthews & Goodman, OBI Property, Savills, Sixteen Real Estate and TSG Property Consultants.