HOW MUCH will London Road Fire Station - 'the finest fire station in the world' - set you back? Well, at least £10m, according to the sales agent Christie + Co.
We should have drawn up a shortlist of bidders by August this year
A veritable bargain, you may think, for this 140,000 sq ft, extravagant, four-storey, Edwardian Baroque structure completed in 1906 by Woodhouse, Willoughby and Langham for £142,000 (around £15m today). After all, there's one-bed flats in Hyde Park going for £10m. Still, that one-bed flat on Hyde Park isn't likely to cost you three times the sale price to turnaround. It's also not falling to pieces.
"The cost of refurbishing London Road Fire Station?" says Jon Patrick, Head of Leisure and Development at Christie + Co. "You're looking at two to three times the buying amount. Make no doubt, this requires significant investment."
Altrincham-based Britannia Hotels - who acquired the Grade II-listed structure by Piccadilly Station back in March 1986 and have since left it to rot - finally conceded to sell their asset last month (read here) following threats of a second CPO from the Council and tireless campaigning by the Friends of London Road Fire Station.
London Road Fire Station has seen better days...
Britannia have allowed the building to fall into grave disrepairOn Thursday 30 April Christie + Co, the sales agent appointed by Britannia, put the crumbling structure on the open market - see 'The Fire Station' sales brochure here.
The brochure reads: 'The sale of the Fire Station offers an excellent opportunity to acquire an exceptionally well located freehold property with planning and listed building consents for the development of a 227 key upscale hotel together with associated bars and restaurants.'
And according to Patrick, there's already been an 'exceptional amount of interest' in the sale. "The phones been ringing off the hook with interest from investors in Europe, America, the East and also much closer to home," he says.
Patrick tells me over the phone that Britannia are unlikely to consider any offers below £10m - but what's the guide price for the structure?
"How long is a piece of string," replies Patrick. "We've had big numbers thrown at us already, but this is a lengthy process, it's way too early to be discussing particular bids.
"Anyway, it's not a case of X amount," he continues, "there's a lot of info for investors to take on board here, we're looking to field well thought-out proposals on behalf of our client."
"We should have drawn up a shortlist of bidders by August this year."
So are Britannia solely considering offers or working with the City Council?
"This is certainly a joined up process, there's collaboration with the Council." Patrick pauses. "But we have to remember the asset is still owned by our client, we'll only consider thorough proposals but there has to be a financial return."
Considering Britannia owner Alex Langsam's record, you'd bet your mother that return scores a damn sight higher than rejuvenation on his list of priorities. Recently named the 'Worst Hotel Chain in the UK' by 6000 Which? members (with the lowest possible rating of one star in October 2014), Langsam saw his profits slump from £3.5m in 2013 to £1.4m in 2014.
The laundry room - London Road Fire Station
CGI of the Fire Station's courtyardThough London Road Fire Station is being marketed by Christie + Co as a 227-bed hotel for sale, with 30,000 sq ft of courtyard and balconies, a 356-cover restaurant and three bars totalling 435-capacity (according to an approved scheme produced for Britannia in 2008 by hospitality architects Purcell Miller Tritton); campaigners hope any agreed regeneration scheme will offer much more than just a hotel.
"We are delighted that Christie + Co have recognized the history of this heritage asset in the sales brochure," says Friends of London Road Fire Station secretary Adam Prince, "but we believe developers should be encouraged to up spec for an ambitious multi-use building for Manchester that goes well beyond exclusive hotel use.
"We want developers to engage in our public debates," Prince continued, "the importance of this building to many people should not be overlooked.
"This needs to be a building for all of the city, not just the few."
The campaign group are currently urging anyone with an interest in the future of the building to take part in a public 'question time-style' debate with a panel of experts - including English Heritage and the Council Planning Department - at 6.30pm on Monday 1 July in the Mechanics Institute at 103 Princess Street. The meeting will be chaired by Jonathan Schofield, editor of Manchester Confidential. You can also take part in a survey here.
The threat of that second CPO certainly seems to have put the wind up Britannia. The worry for campaigners now, however, is that following years of hard graft and haranguing to force the sale, Britannia will offload to an overseas investor with deep pockets and little care for heritage or haste - a Britannia 2.0.
That is, of course, if Langsam intends to sell at all. Over the course of the last three decades Britannia have betrayed multiple commitments to develop the building and have mastered the art of stalling. Let's hope Langsam hasn't got something else up his sleeve, because, as Prince says, "this beautiful Manchester building has been a hostage for way too long."
You can follow @David8Blake on twitter.
You can join the fight at Londonroadfire.org
