Two office blocks within Manchester’s prestige Spinngfields development have been put up for sale after all four of their joint-ownership companies went into administration. Both buildings are fully let to the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The sale of the offices — at 1 Hardman Boulevard and 1 Spinningfields Square — is being handled by property agents Savills, with accounts Ernst and Young acting as administrators. They were called in when the four companies, owned by London-based Matrix Spinningfields, went into administration.
Alan Bloom, Ben Cairns and Craig Lewis, of Ernst and Young’s corporate finance team, have been appointed joint administrators. In a statement, they said: “We are currently undertaking a full review of the two properties with a view to finding a buyer or buyers.
“Both 1 Hardman Boulevard and 1 Spinningfields Square, are two prime office buildings with over 500,000sq ft located in the Spinningfields development in central Manchester. The office locations continue to be fully serviced by managing agents and the tenants and suppliers will not be affected by the administrations.”
Matrix Spinningfields was a joint venture between Robert Randall and Matrix Securities, before collapsing in 2012 ten years after it was formed. It acquired the 350,000sq ft Hardman Boulevard and 150,000sq ft Spinningfields Square blocks in the mid-2000s. At current prices both properties are together thought to be worth around £300m.
The RBS lease has another 24 years to run, explained Mathieu Roland-Billecart, an EY finance team partner. “This sale represents a unique opportunity to acquire two of Manchester’s most prestigious offices,” he added. “A formal sales process will commence shortly.”
Spinningfields, is located in Manchester city centre between Deansgate and the River Irwell, and was originally developed by Allied London Properties. The £1.5bn regeneration project involved the construction of 20 new buildings, totalling more than four-and-a-half million square feet of commercial, residential and retail space.
