BRUNTWOOD's revised masterplan for the ten-acre former-BBC site on Oxford Road will go before the Council executive committee today (Tuesday 14 April).
Works are expected to begin by 2016, with a detailed planning application put before the Council in July 2015.
The new masterplan - which will be developed alongside Bruntwood landholdings on Mancunian Way and Council landholdings around the roundabout on Upper Brook Street - includes two 'distinct development zones' comprising of:
- The proposed 400,000 sq ft £235m Sir Henry Royce Institute for materials research and innovation (announced by Chancellor George Osborne in December 2014)
- 1.2m sq ft of offices and research space
- 1000 space multi-storey car park
- six new residential blocks offering 650 new apartments and serviced-apartment suites
- 100,000 sq ft of retail/leisure/food & drink space
- two new public squares including one 28,115 sq ft at the heart of the masterplan
- redevelopment of Bruntwood's exisiting Manchester Technology Centre
It is estimated that the development could create between 9,500 to 11,800 new jobs for Oxford Road's Corridor (which has already seen £335m of funding committed to research into the commercial development of graphene and other advanced materials), contributing towards the Vision for The Corridor's aim to increase GVA by £1.9bn and create 22,000 jobs by 2020.
The report put to the executive committee states: "The redevelopment of the former BBC site is a key opportunity to renew and expand a major area of the city centre, in response to the city’s growth agenda, and could become one of the most significant opportunities for jobs and investment in the region for many years."
The former BBC site on Oxford Road
Manchester Technology Centre on Oxford Road will be redevelopedBruntwood announced the acquisition of the site on 24 March 2015 from holders Realty Estates - who had been using the deteriorating site (somewhat controversially) as a 'zombie car park'.
Bruntwood Chief Executive Chris Oglesby said last month: “We have long seen this as a strategically important site for Bruntwood, linking our extensive city centre office portfolio with our science and technology interests at Corridor Manchester through Manchester Science Partnerships.
"We are looking forward to developing a masterplan that will be truly transformational for this area of the city. The finished scheme, plus the central Corridor campus of MSP, Citylabs and Alderley Park represent a world class cluster of >3m sq ft of commercial space aimed at satisfying the incredible demand that Manchester is witnessing from these fast growing sectors of the economy.”
Confidential understands the first phase of development will deliver 36% of the new masterplan and include: the Sir Henry Royce Institute; 437,000 sq ft of residential accommodation; a new 28,115 sq ft public square; and major new pedestrian routes including a new connection from Oxford Road to Upper Brook Street.
The former-BBC site was cleared to make way for a 'zombie car park'
The new National Graphene Institute on Booth StreetIt is hoped the positioning of the new Sir Henry Royce Institute alongside the the newly opened National Graphene Institute on Booth Street and the planned Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at the University of Manchester, will create 'ideal conditions for collaborative working, cross fertilisation of ideas and development of commercial concepts'.
Works are expected to begin by 2016, with the first phase finished in full by 2018. Bruntwood will put a detailed planning application before the Council in July 2015.
