Wizu Workspace has reopened One Godwin Street, a prominent office building in Bradford city centre, England, as a flexible workspace and is now welcoming its first tenants, a move that matters to building and architecture professionals because it shows large vacant offices being brought back into use through an operator-led management model rather than conventional letting. The agreement with landlord Nice Leisure covers flexible workspace delivery, full building management and compliance services.

Wizu Workspace is a Leeds-headquartered flexible workspace provider founded in 2016 by Tom Almas and John Guggenheim, operating more than 500,000 sq ft of workspace across the North.

Nice Leisure Limited is the landlord of the 120,000 sq ft building, which stood vacant after Vanquis and Provident moved into a smaller unit next door.

Tom Almas, chief executive and co-founder of Wizu Workspace, said: "Opening at 1 Godwin Street feels like the right building, at the right time, for the right city."

The structural driver is landlords handing large, vacant office floorplates to specialist operators who take on design, management and compliance, a route reported by Insider Media to cover 120,000 sq ft overlooking the Alhambra Theatre and Centenary Square.

For the sector, the timing matters because the building sits on the Thornton Road corridor, where, according to the Telegraph & Argus, Bradford Live opened last year and Bradford College has opened a new engineering school this year.

The offer spans private offices for teams of two to more than 100 people, coworking, meeting rooms and health and fitness facilities, showing one building serving several occupier types at once.

The broader implication for the sector is that operator-managed conversions of dated offices create steady fit-out and building services work for regional contractors and designers, particularly in city centres seeking new anchor occupiers.

Source: Telegraph & Argus / Insider Media