Retail park will be part of £1bn new homes plan
MANCHESTER’S Central Retail Park is to be bought by the council for new homes as part of its mammoth £1bn housebuilding partnership with City’s Middle Eastern owners.
The site – which currently includes a Toys R Us store – has been in the town hall’s sights for years.
A deal has now finally been signed with owners TH Real Estate.
Instead of previous plans for a large supermarket, the site is set to form part of the growing Manchester Life venture, an Abu Dhabi United-funded housing project that has already seen 300 homes built in nearby Ancoats and New Islington, with around 1,000 more under construction.
The town hall has a 10-year deal with Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Manchester City chief Sheikh Mansour.
The town hall already owns the freehold on the retail park, which has been held by TH Real Estate under a long lease since 1989.
Since 2005, the firm has been looking at options to revitalise the run-down park, including improving the quality of the existing shops on offer. Over time those proposals morphed into plans, approved in 2013, for a new large-scale supermarket on the site as the city’s economy shifted.
In the years that followed the market changed again, according to a report going before executive councillors tomorrow, leading to ongoing discussions between the two parties over how to create a ‘mixed use’ site, including housing.
As recently as last year TH bosses still wanted to hold onto the lease, but after months of negotiations it has now decided to sell up.
Another wave of city centre apartments, townhouses and linked shops is now likely.
The report says Manchester council now intends to draw up a masterplan for the site, which immediately borders a number of plots being developed for housing either by Manchester Life or other developers such as Urban Splash, Mulbury and Muse.
By the middle of next year the council is hoping to have a clear vision for what will be built on the site, creating a ‘new, high quality predominantly residential led mixed use neighbourhood.’
It says in recent years the park has failed to make a ‘significant contribution’ to the city centre, arguing the council’s acquisition can reverse that.
The price paid by the council has not been disclosed due to commercial confidentiality.