8 Jan 2016 07:00
8 January 2016
Urban&Civic receives planning for key Manchester
city centre development
Yesterday afternoon a planning committee of Manchester City Council resolved to grant planning consent to deliver Urban&Civic's important city centre development on the corner of Princess Street and Whitworth Street. Support from the planning committee for the revised Simpson Haugh scheme was unanimous, following extensive public consultation and positive representations from Historic England and Places Matter.
The new scheme comprises two residential buildings delivering 238 apartments, a 148-bedroom 4 star hotel, ground floor commercial units and a new landscaped public square over the existing four-level basement car park, which will provide 273 parking spaces.
Urban&Civic originally purchased the one-acre site with an existing planning consent in December 2014 at an allocated cost of £7.8 million. Since that planning consent was granted in 2007 a number of factors have changed, including the economy and property market as well as thinking about design and uses. The new planning approval reflects Urban&Civic's revised scheme which better suits the current market and its aspirations for the site. Gross Development Value is expected to be of the order of £100 million.
The consented design creates a contemporary reinterpretation of key architectural characteristics of historic buildings within Manchester's Conservation Area and sensitively reconnects the site to its surroundings. Furthermore, Urban&Civic will be looking to introduce local independent traders in the ground floor units to help integrate the scheme into the neighbourhood.
Nigel Hugill, Executive Chairman of Urban&Civic, commented:
"We are fully grateful for the support of all concerned. Urban&Civic very much see ourselves as long term investors in Manchester, having built No1 Deansgate and Green Quarter in our previous business. The city is continuing to grow economically and culturally and we are determined to make our own contribution to that process".
Work on the initial phase of residential buildings is expected to start slightly ahead of schedule, by mid 2016, with the first new residents moving in approximately 20 months later.
-Ends-
For further information, please contact:
FTI Consulting 020 3727 1000
Giles Barrie
Ellie Sweeney
Dido Laurimore
About Urban&Civic plc
Urban&Civic plc is a property development and investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange's main market (UANC), with a market capitalisation approaching £400m. The Group was formed through the reverse takeover of AIM‐listed commercial property developer Terrace Hill by unlisted strategic residential land company Urban&Civic in May 2014. The takeover was undertaken in parallel with a capital raise of £170m, creating a management team and board with an outstanding track record and the ambition to grow a new "Best in Class" UK real estate business.
Urban&Civic is led by Nigel Hugill and Robin Butler, who co‐founded the business in 2009 having previously led major London regeneration projects such as the White City shopping centre, Stratford City, Paddington Basin and Elephant and Castle.
Urban&Civic have a dual focus of large scale strategic sites and bespoke commercial projects.
Commercial development and investment assets are focused on bespoke, predominantly mixed use schemes in dynamic cities and towns as well as key growth locations. In addition to Princess Street and Whitworth Street, these include the proposed redevelopment of the Renaissance Hotel at Deansgate, Manchester and a hotel development directly connected to Stansted airport.
From a strategic land perspective, Urban&Civic are taking forward over 3000 acres of land across four sites located close to Cambridge, Huntingdon, Newark and Rugby delivering more than 20,000 new homes.