Kier upbeat after cost-saving pays off

Manchester City Council is proposing a 92,000 sq ft secondary school on the site of the former Showcase Cinema on Hyde Road in Gorton. 

Investor Cheyne Capital Real Estate will forward fund the developer’s 144-apartment scheme on Oldham Road in Manchester to the tune of £32m.  

Contractor RG Group has been appointed to build the 31-storey Manchester residential scheme on behalf of investor Ridgeback Group, which has bought the site from Cable Swan, a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine, Britannia Group, Prime Developers and Foundation Real Estate. 

Contractor Russell WBHO has finished building the 158-bedroom hotel in Manchester on behalf of Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group, which are developing the £750m Circle Square mixed-use scheme in a joint venture.

The city council insists the controversial £9.1m project to upgrade the Manchester road has been a good use of money despite ongoing criticism from residents. 

The combined authority has awarded the developer loans of £37.5m and £32.4m from its Housing Investment Loans Fund to support the development of just under 1,000 apartments across schemes in the Greengate area of Salford and within the Great Jackson Street regeneration zone in Manchester.

Cashflow issues stemming from a contract dispute at the end of 2019, compounded by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in the Manchester-based construction firm appointing FRP Advisory as administrators last month. 

Work has begun to knock down the Base building near the University of Manchester on Oxford Road and replace it with a five-storey, 91,000 sq ft workspace for computer engineering, manufacturing, science and technology companies.