BRUNTWOOD have announced the joint venture partner for the residential element of its ambitious £750m mixed-use scheme for the former BBC site on Manchester's so-called 'Knowledge Corridor' on Oxford Road.
It is estimated that the development could create between 9,500 to 11,800 new jobs for the Oxford Road Corridor
Cheshire-based high-end student property investment firm Select Property Group - who are currently part-way through constructing the City Suites serviced apartment development at Greengate on Chapel Street (by Manchester Cathedral) - have been brought in by Bruntwood following the approval of the Oxford Road masterplan by the City Council in April 2015.
In total the development will comprise:
- 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 office and research space
- 1000 space multi-storey car park
- four residential blocks offering 650 new apartments and two serviced-apartment buildings (developed by Select)
- 100,000 sq ft of retail/leisure/food & drink space
- two new public squares including one 28,115 sq ft space at the heart of the masterplan
- redevelopment of Bruntwood's exisiting Manchester Technology Centre
The former BBC building on Oxford RoadChris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood, said the scheme will 'create a truly distinctive new community that will help drive this city's continued growth."
CEO of Select, Mark Stott, said he was proud to "be part of the creation of a forward-looking destination that will be unlike anything in the city."
It is estimated that the development could create between 9,500 to 11,800 new jobs for the Oxford Road 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.
Bruntwood 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'.
Select currently run eight serviced residential schemes across the UK in cities such as Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool, as well as First Street's £25m Vita Student project.
Works are expected to begin on the Oxford Road site by 2016, with the first phase finished by 2018.
Follow @David8Blake on twitter
The site was cleared to make way for a temporary car park
