Funder secured for £150m Kampus neighbourhood

Joint venture partners Capital & Centric and Henry Boot Developments have agreed a deal with Ares Investment Management, to forward fund the £150m residential-led Kampus scheme in Manchester city centre.

Capital & Centric and Henry Boot were selected as the preferred purchaser of Manchester Metropolitan University’s former site near Piccadilly station in March 2014 and rebranded the scheme Kampus. The 2.3-acre plot currently has 250,000 sq ft of vacant space across seven university buildings.

A strategic framework guiding future development on the site was approved by Manchester City Council in 2015. Around 500 homes for the private rented market will be included in the development. The final scheme is expected to total 500,000 sq ft. The library will be demolished, while the 1960s tower building and the Minshull and Minto & Turner warehouses will be used to house apartments. According to the framework, a hotel could also be brought forward on the site.

London-based investor Lothbury was previously understood to be the frontrunner to back the project.

Architects Mecanoo and Shedkm are advising on the scheme.

Also in Piccadilly, in December Capital & Centric announced that it had bought Crusader Works, a 200,000 sq ft listed cluster of mills, in an off-market deal.

Ares is a US-based fund with £1bn of assets under management globally. Last month, a joint venture between Ares and Property Alliance Group was understood to be close to buying Carlyle Group’s 300,000 sq ft office complex at Piccadilly Place, Manchester, for £117m. Ares and Alliance are also in a joint venture partnership on the Trident Business Park at Manchester Airport.

All parties declined or were unavailable to comment.