Three and Four Piccadilly Place have become the first buildings in Manchester city centre to achieve the Wired Certified platinum rating for digital connectivity.
Asset managed by Property Alliance Group, the properties comprise a total of 300,000 sq ft of new Grade A office space. Tenants include NuGen, Weightmans, Barclays, NHS, Arcadis UK, Arup, Orega and Egencia.
Platinum is WiredScore’s highest rating and was awarded following a rigorous independent review of the buildings’ connectivity, infrastructure and ability to improve connectivity in the future.
Rob Peill, Head of Offices at Alliance said: “High connectivity is an essential requirement for our tenants and we believe it will be one of the main criteria occupiers will look for when choosing new offices. Ticking this box however, isn’t just about the speed of the internet connections, but quality and design as well as assurance that the building can continuously improve and adapt to meet changing requirements.
“In response, we’ve made a significant investment in technological infrastructure at Three and Four Piccadilly place to achieve the highest standard possible and will now be reviewing the rest of our portfolio too.
“The installation of high-tec features is one of a broad range of improvements we’re making at Piccadilly Place to create a mixed-use development that sets the standard in the city centre.”
Alliance acquired Piccadilly Place for £106m in 2016 in a joint venture with Ares. One Piccadilly Place is the address of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Two Piccadilly Place is the 55,000 sq ft headquarters for Transport for Greater Manchester, and the residential element is Five Piccadilly Place, ‘The Hub’, a development of 167 apartments.
Earlier this month, Alliance announced that Q-Park UK had agreed a 35-year lease at the scheme to manage the car park which serves the office buildings.