A second glass fronted office building at Stockport Exchange has been completed and will become the UK headquarters of global chemical company, BASF.
The 61,500 sq ft Grade A office building forms part of the wider £145m Stockport Exchange transformation.
It is being delivered by Stockport council and national urban regenerators, Muse Developments and is central to the council’s ambitious £1bn town centre regeneration programme.
This includes a new transport interchange and the tram arriving in the town centre.
Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation, set up last year, will spearhead the regeneration which will also create new mixed-use urban quarter with 3,500 homes and up to 1 million sq ft of commercial space.
Global chemical company BASF has decided to move from its office in Cheadle, where just over 200 people are currently based, to 2 Stockport Exchange to provide a more agile way of working.
Richard Carter, managing director of BASF in the UK and Ireland, said: “We are looking forward to moving to this exciting new ‘connected’ location later this year. Our new office space in Stockport Exchange will feature open and collaborative workspace to enable new and more agile ways of working.
“We want to establish a high-performance organization to enable us to be successful in an increasingly competitive market environment.
“The move to Stockport is part of an ongoing Future of Work project which will deliver a better workplace experience through improved digitalisation, increased flexibility and empowered leadership.”
Cllr Elise Wilson, leader of Stockport council, said: “I’m so proud of what we have achieved at 2 Stockport Exchange and the fact that we have attracted world renowned businesses to the town centre is testament to its fantastic location and high-quality design.
“Businesses are increasingly seeing Stockport as a credible and desirable location and with the Mayoral Development Corporation and the thousands of new homes and business opportunities it will create, the new Transport Interchange and improvements to Merseyway, all coming to fruition in the near future, it will increase our appeal even further.”
Tom Webber, senior development surveyor at Muse Developments, said: “The scale and shared ambition here is clear to see and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved together; while playing a significant role in Stockport’s regeneration and the partnership’s future success in the Mayoral Development Corporation.
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“There are a number of key ingredients to delivering high-quality schemes; maximising the excellent connectivity; positively contributing to the place and changing the perceptions of Stockport town centre both regionally, and to a wider audience.”
Once complete, the wider Stockport Exchange development will deliver up to 375,000 sq ft of office space and 28,000 sq ft of commercial floor space.
Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE are appointed as joint agents for the scheme.
