UPMARKET health club operator David Lloyd has pulled out of Piccadilly Plaza.
The decision not to occupy the 3,400 sq m unit will come as a blow to the Plaza's owners, Portfolio Holdings, the London-based property company controlled by millionaire financier John Beckwith.
The David Lloyd Health club, created on the podium site once occupied by Bernard House, was to have been the linch pin of their plans to revive the complex.
Portfolio's plans for the redevelopment of the plaza - now re-named Piccadilly Exchange - include a new Marks & Spencer foodstore.
London agents Gerald Eve have been instructed to find a new occupier for the former health club space.
A casino or nightclub could be opened at the site, if planners agree. Offices or an hotel have not been ruled out.
Interest
Julian Welch at Gerald Eve said: "We have been instructed to dispose of the unit. We already have a good level of interest."
Traditionally David Lloyd centres have been built in out of town locations where they can find room for tennis courts and other facilities, rather than in city centres.
The decision reflects more on their decision about what works best for them than it does the health club market in Manchester.
Portfolio was the lead member of a consortium that acquired the 1 ha Piccadilly Plaza site in 1998.
They rescued the centre from financial limbo which had blighted redevelopment.
The 37,000 sq m Plaza complex includes the offices of the Government Office for the North West - but their lease will soon expire.
The decision by David Lloyd comes as no surprise to market observers as the city centre leisure club market is saturated with some operators failing to achieve membership targets. Tweet