Boost for Captial&Centric’s £40m Manchester BTR
Approved more than four years ago, the 107-flat Ferrous could finally start on site after the scheme was transferred into the recently established partnership between the developer, Swiss Life, and Homes England.
The 15-storey apartment scheme off Chapeltown Street in Manchester’s Piccadilly East is the first acquisition for the Impact&Places Fund, which was formally established last November with the aim of investing £860m to deliver 2,250 homes in “underinvested” areas of England over the next 10 years.
Swiss Life and Capital&Centric share 60% of the fund with Homes England owning the other 40%. The partnership is supported by Homes England’s newly launched £16bn National Housing Bank and blends private and public investment to unlock housign delivery.
Jan Plückhahn, head real estate at Swiss Life Asset Managers, commented: “Ferrous is a strong start for our Impact&Places housing partnership and reflects Swiss Life Asset Managers’ long-term commitment to high‑quality homes and vibrant neighbourhoods.
“Together with our partners, we’re focused on unlocking urban potentials to create impactful places as well as long-term value for our clients and local communities.”
Ferrous is the final phase of Captial&Centric’s Piccadilly East masterplan, which has seen Crusader Mill refurbished as apartments, Neptune Mill transformed into workspace, and the construction of Phoenix, a new-build residential scheme.
With planning permission already in place and a contractor lined up to start by the end of the year, the first homes are expected to be completed by mid-to-late 2028, according to C&C.
John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “This is a landmark moment for us to be putting our plans into action and getting on with delivering high-quality homes in places that need them most.
“By bringing together public and private investment, we are unlocking underused brownfield land and turning it into thriving, sustainable neighbourhoods with long-term social impact. This is only the beginning, with further projects set to be unveiled later this year.”
Simon Century, chief executive of the National Housing Bank, added: “Collaboration between different organisations is essential to creating the new homes and thriving places that people want and need.
“We realise the greatest positive impact for communities is only achieved by working alongside partners, including Swiss Life Asset Managers and Capital&Centric, who share our mission to increase the supply of quality rental homes and drive regeneration.
“Joint ventures like the Impact&Places Partnership exemplify the ambition of our newly launched National Housing Bank to unlock projects and accelerate delivery at scale This first project in Manchester demonstrates our ongoing efforts to deliver for communities across the country.”
As this is the final phase of the Piccadilly East masterplan how does it qualify as an ‘Underinvested’ area?
By Unaplanner
A Capital & Centric scheme in the centre of Manchester is hardly a challenging one to get off the ground in an “underinvested” part of the world needing help from the taxpayer is it?
It really does just look like Homes England and Steve Reed have nationalised the GMCA money for the usual people in the usual places model. Presumably this support is on top of the £1.6 million grant already announced by GMCA?
By Town Clerk
As per the two previous comments hard not to argue this would have moved forward under normal market conditions. That said, we are likely to enter a deeply uncertain period for the economy thanks to events elsewhere, and once again Manchester has found a way to keep the ship moving forward.
By Rich X