Offices in Manchester and at the One Angel Square building towards the northern edges of the city centre have been shortlisted for a prestigious international award.
One Angel Square is weeks away from completion, as things stand, in February 2013, with the site poised to become the new head offices of the Co-operative Group, one of the largest retail businesses in England. The highly distinctive and largely sustainable scheme is on a shortlist of contenders for the MIPIM Awards ‘Best Office and Business Development’ accolade.
Meanwhile, NOMA, the £800 million mixed-use development scheme of which One Angel Square is a leading part, is also up for a MIPIM Award within the ‘Best Futura Mega Project’ category.
“For NOMA and One Angel Square to be nominated for these awards is a remarkable achievement, and we are understandably delighted to be in the running,” said David Pringle, NOMA director.
“NOMA faces stiff competition from the 5 Lagoons development in the Maldives – as well as projects in Beijing and Stuttgart – so it will be incredibly difficult to win, but hopefully, we can become the first British recipient of this award,” he said.
The MIPIM Awards are a notable occasion on the international property development calendar. This year’s event will take place in the French seaside city of Cannes from March 12th to 15th. Previous winners of the office space award include the World Trade Centre in Amsterdam and the Main Point Kalin in Prague.
NOMA remains an ongoing redevelopment effort covering roughly 20 acres across the centre of Manchester. Its plans are scheduled to unfold in phases over the next ten to fifteen years. Previous MIPIM ‘mega project’ winners include the Kowloon Terminus of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link in China.
Editor’s notes: Post-completion, the 238ft-tall property was recognised as one of the most sustainable office buildings in Europe. It features elements such as greywater recycling, adiabatic cooling, and waste heat recycling. It is also powered by a biodiesel cogeneration plant that runs on rapeseed oil. It was this commitment to being an environmental office building that earned it BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ accreditation.
On completion, the Co-Operative Group sold the property to a joint venture between German asset management firm, DWS and Gingko Tree Investments, an investment arm backed by the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, in a sale and leaseback deal, in order to fund the next phase of the NOMA development.
By 2023, several further phases had been completed at the 20-acre site, including the extensive redevelopment of the Grade II-listed Hanover Building. The 90,000 sqft building became Amazon’s Manchester headquarters office, and 600 employees have been based there since January 2020.
Other phases included the construction of a new public square and event space named Sadler’s Yard that opened in December 2015.
The development of the 14-storey Hotel Indigo adjacent to the Manchester Victoria tram stop.
The creation of office space at NOMA for a community of innovators that provides various workspace solutions ranging from flexi hot desks to hireable podcast studios.
The renovation of the 1962-built Grade II-listed modernist office tower New Century House will commence in 2021.
And the creation of Three Angel Square, which opened in 2018 and offers 200,000 sq ft of flexible Grade A office space.
In April 2023, 4 Angel Square was making good progress and was close to topping out. The net zero carbon, future-proofed office building will bring 200,000 square feet of office space to the scheme and is targeting BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification, NABERS 5-star standard, ActiveScore Platinum, WiredScore Platinum, and Fitwel accreditation, amongst others.
In June 2023, Property Week revealed that the Co-Operative Group had put its headquarters, One Angel Square, up for sale and was seeking offers in the region of £165 million.
In September 2024, it was announced that Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY) would lease the entirety of 4 Angel Square at NOMA from owner MEPC.
BNY agreed to rent approximately 200,000 square feet at approximately £44 per square foot per annum and would move its staff to the building from 3 Hardman Street in Spinningfields and One Piccadilly Gardens, completing the move by 2026.
4 Angel Square is an 11-storey, net zero operational building that boasts several strong energy efficiency ratings, including a NABERS five-star design for performance target rating and BREEAM Oustanding. It also has highly connected internet and satellite services.
At the time, the deal was the largest regional ‘Big 6’ city deal for four years.