Cityheart hires ex-Investar director
James Alderson has joined the regeneration company leading the £135m Wigan Galleries revamp and other schemes as its development director.
Alderson was previously development director at Investar Property Group, which is delivering the £65m Royal George Village, a redevelopment of part of the Stockport College campus into new homes.
At Cityheart, Alderson will be working alongside Warren Taylor, the company’s director of six years, on the Galleries, as well as other Cityheart projects including Stockport Interchange – the new bus station and housing for the Greater Manchester town centre – and several pipeline schemes yet to be revealed.
His 30-year property career has included stints at previously worked in senior roles across the property sector, most recently as head of Mulbury City in Manchester for almost four years until 2019. The Mulbury City brand was not impacted by the administration of another part of its parent group, Mulbury Homes.
He has also worked for consultancy EC Harris in Manchester, Grosvenor in Liverpool, Gardiner & Theobald, Arcadis, and Balfour Beatty on schemes such as Liverpool One, Spinningfields, Woburn Center Parcs and The Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair.
Taylor said: “James has a wealth of experience in managing and delivering complex mixed-use schemes, particularly in the North West, and will be a valuable addition to the team.
“We have some fantastic, secured projects on at the moment and a number of significant new development opportunities in the pipeline. Strategic placemaking sites where we can also add significant social value are a key target for us going forwards.”
Alderson added: “I am joining Cityheart at an incredibly exciting time in the company’s history and with so much potential to build on in the future, I am pleased to be part of this journey.”
Cityheart operates from its offices in Chester and Wilmslow, with teams also located on sites across Gloucester, Hereford and Hertfordshire. It has a development pipeline in excess of £500m, it said.
Work on Wigan Galleries is due to start next year, with BCEGI appointed as the main contractor. The £ project will see the town centre complex demolished, with 218 homes built across four new blocks, a new market building, and a hotel featuring in the first phase of the redevelopment.
Cityheart is also redeveloping the former Golden Triangle industrial estate off Foundry Lane in Halebank into 360 homes.
