Cityheart completes deal for £120m Stockport resi 

The developer has acquired the 442-home Royal George Village site on Greek Street, with plans to complete the scheme in 2026.

Cityheart has bought the site of the £120m Stockport scheme after it was put up for sale last year following the collapse of previous developer Investar. Place North West reported in September that Cityheart was the frontrunner to pick up the stalled scheme.

PP O’Connor is now on site carrying out enabling works. 

Jonny Wrigley, group chief executive of Cityheart, said: “Royal George Village is one of Stockport’s most important residential opportunities and we are proud to be bringing these much-needed contemporary homes forward, further enhancing the quality of housing in Stockport town centre.” 

The developer is no stranger to Stockport and is delivering the 196-apartment scheme at Stockport Interchange. 

“Since topping out our 196-apartment scheme with our joint venture partner Rise Homes at Stockport Interchange in May, we have been keen to contribute further to the regeneration of Stockport and investing in Royal George Village provides the ideal opportunity to continue our relationship with the town,” Wrigley added. 

“We have made an immediate start on site and will implement a rapid build programme to deliver these high quality new homes at Royal George Village which will be a key contributor to Stockport’s ongoing renaissance.” 

Royal George Village is located a short distance away from the Interchange and was previously part of the Stockport College campus.  

Investar acquired the three-acre plot from the college in April 2020 before winning approval for its redevelopment later that year.  

The approved plans would see four of the six existing buildings on the site demolished, while the 115,000 sq ft Torkington Building would be converted into 122 apartments and the grade-two listed Greek Street Building – the former Metropolitan Girls’ School – would be redeveloped into collaborative co-working space for local businesses.     

The 60,000 sq ft Lyme Centre would be demolished and replaced with a 16-storey apartment block comprising 258 units.   

In addition, a new-build six-storey ‘gateway’ building would be constructed, providing 62 apartments at the corner of Greek Street and Royal George Street.    

Meanwhile, the Hexagon lecture hall, located close to the grade two-listed War Memorial Art Gallery, would be demolished and replaced with public realm and civic space.    

In addition, the 16,000 sq ft University Centre building would be demolished to provide an internal, south-facing courtyard to create additional public open space and private gardens for residents.  

The scheme is part of the 130-acre regeneration district Town Centre West, which is being driven forward by Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation, and is supported by a £9m GMCA brownfield grant. 

Eamonn Boylan, interim chair of Stockport MDC, said: “Delivering more, high-quality homes for local people to live in the town centre is where true regeneration starts – we then start to see the positive impact on our high streets, in our retail centres, and we create a larger workforce which attracts businesses and drives forward the town’s prosperity. 

“2023 has seen significant progress to Stockport’s £1bn town centre regeneration, and, as we look ahead to what is set to be a monumental year with the completion of a number of our landmark developments, we look forward to working with the team at Cityheart to deliver these essential new homes for Stockport.” 

Cityheart is in the process of procuring a contractor for the first phase of the scheme and will commence demolition and construction works this month. The project is scheduled for completion in 2026. 

Original architect DAY Architectural has been retained to work on the new scheme. Beyond Corporate has provided legal support during the acquisition. 

Savills marketed the site for sale.