A UK-BASED development company with an Irish-led team is promoting a large mixed-use development on the eastern fringe of Manchester city centre which is expected to have an end value of £1 billion (€1.274 billion).
Chancellor Place is a strategically located 17-hectare (38-acre) site within easy walking distance of the city centre and equally close to Piccadilly Station - Manchester's main entry and exit point to London, by rail.
Planning permission is due later this year for the 418,050sq m (4.5 million sq ft) urban enclave which will be developed in four phases.
Grangefield Estates, the main developer, is working in partnership with Manchester City Council to deliver the new urban centre which will be anchored by a 27,870sq m (300,000sq ft) healthcare mall - dubbed the "Harley Street of the north" - alongside 92,900sq m (1 million sq ft) of offices, two hotels, 9,290sq m (100,000sq ft) of retail and leisure facilities, and 2,000 residential units.
The promoters say they have drawn inspiration from sites in northern Europe, including Dublin's acclaimed Beacon Court scheme. The plan incorporates seven defined development areas for investment which include public, retail, leisure, commercial, residential, community and healthcare.
A master plan has been prepared for the development and agreed with Manchester City Council and New East Manchester. A new tram line is planned for an adjacent site with a stop incorporated into the scheme.
Austin Kenny, a director of Grangefield Estates, says they have been working on Chancellor Place since 2003 and the submission of an outline planning application was a substantial step towards delivering the project.
The city council plans to use its compulsory purchase powers to complete site assembly in what is largely an industrial area, should that prove necessary. Heads of terms have been signed off by the city council and negotiations are under way to conclude a development agreement by next September.
This will give Grangefield Estates development rights over land owned by the council in return for facilitating the delivery of the scheme.
Significant private and public funds have been committed to the regeneration of east Manchester and Chancellor Place in particular because of its strategic location and high visibility from the main railway line into the city.
The expectation is that the population of this area will increase from 60,000 to 90,000 and that an additional 10,000 new jobs will be created. The greater Manchester area is home to 3.6 million people.
