FEC snaps up Angelgate site at auction
Far East Consortium has bought the site of the failed Angelgate scheme for £5.2m at auction and is now planning to submit a revised planning application for a residential development before the end of the year.
FEC was the only company to bid for the site, although a number of others expressed an interest, and lodged its bid of £5.2m only two minutes before the auction was due to close.
The auction, managed by Lambert Smith Hampton, was brought forward following the collapse of the site’s previous developer, Pinnacle Angelgate, in September last year. It ran from 24 April to 2pm on 26 April.
The site on Dantzic Street neighbours FEC’s proposed £200m MeadowSide development, which is due to include 756 apartments and townhouses, including a 41-storey tower. It also forms part of the wider £1bn Northern Gateway masterplan, where FEC is Manchester City Council’s development partner.
Gavin Taylor, regional general manager of FEC Manchester, said: “Manchester, the third-most visited city in the UK, is a place where people from all walks of life want to stay and where families thrive.
“Manchester City Council market data shows the demand for new homes in the Manchester city centre will continue to exceed supply, and we are excited about helping bring about a new international experience to this marvellous city.
“Having acquired the Angelgate site at auction, we will prepare new plans for a residential development and hope to submit a revised planning application to Manchester City Council before the end of 2018.”
The previous plans for the site were for a £77m, 344-home scheme over two towers. Work started on site but ground to a halt in 2016 after the project’s original contractor, PHD1, entered administration.
Pinnacle Angelgate’s administrators, Moore Stephens, brought the site to auction after failing to a receive a feasible proposal to build out the site as planned.
Moore Stephens’ report indicated there had been five proposals to build out the site put forward, but none of these were found to be viable owing to a funding gap.
It is understood a number of main contractors priced the job at around £45m to £50m, significantly above Pinnacle’s original estimate of £22.1m, which then nearly doubled to £43m.
There is still some disagreement whether the site still has planning permission for the original scheme; although Manchester City Council told Place North West the permission had lapsed, the administrators have launched a challenge to this view, arguing the council’s position was “demonstrably wrong”.
Pinnacle claimed to owe its creditors £30m at the time of its collapse, including a number of buyers who had purchased apartments at the scheme. The administrators have estimated buyers would receive 21.5p in the pound following the sale, while unsecured creditors are likely to receive nothing. This would leave buyers £23.7m out of pocket.
Pinnacle (Angelgate) is a special purpose vehicle for developer Pinnacle, which continues to trade. Another of company’s businesses, Pinnacle Student Developments (Liverpool), entered administration earlier this year, owing £12m to its creditors, while another two companies, Pinnacle Student Developments and Pinnacle Residential Liverpool, have also entered administration this month.
Convicted conman Tony Freeman has been linked to the Angelgate development, and Pinnacle confirmed that Freeman was a “consultant that strategically advises the Pinnacle Alliance board of directors” but “does not own Pinnacle and is not a director of Pinnacle”.
