Bowmer + Kirkland starts on £70m MediaCity apartments
Construction has begun on Glenbrook’s 280-apartment scheme, located next to the development’s Booths food store, with completion expected in 2022.
Glenbrook is working on behalf of Latimer, Clarion Housing Group’s development arm on the project, which is being delivered in partnership with MediaCityUK on a former surface car park.
Designed by Sheppard Robson, the 231,000 sq ft building will range in height between 14 and 17 storeys. The proposal received detailed planning consent in February this year and will provide 132 one-bedroom, 136 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom apartments. Latimer will offer 100 homes for sale on a shared ownership basis, with the remainder being for private sale.
Ian Sherry, director at Glenbrook, said: “After acquiring the site in March this year, the construction contract was fully procured during lockdown. This is reflective of how well the key partners and project team have worked together to get this scheme to site and for us to start our first development with Latimer on such a positive footing.”
Richard Cook, group director of development for Latimer, said: “We’re pleased to be offering 100 homes through shared ownership, making this development more accessible through significantly lower deposits when purchasing a share of the property. Over time, buyers can increase their share of the property if they choose to until they own it outright.
MediaCityUK is a joint venture partnership between Peel L&P and Legal & General Capital.
It’s so funny how in the UK, apartment sizes are never mentioned. Everywhere else, an apartment is described by its size and number of rooms. Here, just the number of bedrooms, so we never really know how big a place is. Perhaps this is because we have the smallest homes in Europe and near smallest in the whole developed world. I like this development by the way it looks – nice clean lines, but are there seriously no balconies there or are they just tiny little “smokers balconies”? Didn’t the developers learn anything from COVID that outdoor space is vital? Did they not learn from developers abroad, even in cold countries like the UK that large balconies are important?
By EOD
I agree @EOD the quality of living in Manchester is so poor, you pay so much money to live in a tiny box, there’s rarely any balconies and not enough greenery, awful
By Michael
But who`s going to live in them?
By Anonymous
Needs internal balconies. Also agree with EOD – in fact all apartments should comply with the Governments 2015 Technical Housing Space Standards Document. This means 50sqm for a 1 bedroom apartment with one double bed, and 70sqm for a 2 bedroom apartment with two double beds.
By John
No doubt they are not a millimetre more than the nationally described space standards (thank god we have those as back-up). I’ve not seen any data on the average size of new build apartments in the city against that metric. Given that standard emerged in London we could afford to be more generous in our locations.
By Rich X
Hi EOD, all good points. I would suggest the due the planning system in the UK being so complicated and drawn out, this scheme would have recieved planning consent a long time before corona virus, and also contracts signed and orders placed, so it’s in a position of being irreversible if they want to proceed. The design does look nice and at least MediaCity itself is open with green spaces and waterside etc – plenty of room for walks and runs around there.
By EOF
Note to all. The nationally described space standards are NOT mandatory. They can be only included in Local Plans where an inspector finds them necessary and their introduction would not rule out development on the grounds of viability or affordability. Government explicitly chose not to impose these as standards.
By Local Planner
More swanky yuppie appartments and many many more are planned for the Salford quays area. These will be not affordable and very small in size and very expensive for what you get, a small little place in the sky. For the same price of these flats you can get a big 3bed house in a nice area of Salford with a driveway and massive front/back garden and know the people in your neighborhood, but it’s people’s choice where they want to live.
By Darren born bred Salford
They aren’t for living in silly, they are investments.
A physical asset to launder money from China and the middle east.
By Simon
Ha ha, ‘yuppie apartments’..that’s straight out of Del Boy only Fools and Horses.!
By Anonymous
More dross, dull uninspiring boxes built for investors. Benidorm in the rain without the beaches.
Some people are pleased that anything is being built as it points to “success “ . These buildings will be regretted in the future.
By Manchester lacks soul
These look fantastic, well done Salford
By Dan