New Square construction underway
Work has started on site at Urban & Civic’s Manchester New Square, bringing activity once again to the long-stalled site at the junction of Whitworth Street and Princess Street in Manchester city centre. Lendlease was appointed as main contractor in April.
The scheme will comprise three residential blocks of between 12 and 15 storeys, each with retail/restaurant units at ground floor. In total, the scheme will offer 351 one, two and three bed apartments.
The Carding Building is the first building in which apartments are being made available off-plan. Completion is expected at the end of 2019.
The site was acquired by Urban & Civic in 2014, having previously been brought forward by Donal Mulryan’s West Properties under the Origin brand. Along with the Renaissance hotel site on Deansgate, also now owned by Urban & Civic, it was put up for sale by NAMA in 2011.
At last?
By Schwyz
Yeah, 220k for a one bed flat?! Get real
By David
Long, long, long overdue.
By coolmanc
How is demand verses supply in Central Manchester, there seems to be an awful amount of supply in the pipeline, but recent contacts have said many of the new build are unsold, or kept
empty by overseas buyers, is this a true reflection? I would appreciate any informed views. Thank you.
By causal observer
There’s a huge amount of stock in the pipeline but the City Council still thinks this is an undersupply.
I think what will help the situation is the different tenures at play; PRS institutions holding assets, international landlords and then the local for sale market. Demand for the latter is huge and only a very limited amount of what is being built will be sold locally.
Much of the pipeline is therefore aimed at the local rental market, which could take a hit with such an amount of units coming online all at once.
Of course nobody knows and you have to recognise that rent inflation has been huge in Manchester over the last few years so hopefully this market will hold up well.
There is a lot of high end stock coming forward but I would presume that is where the risk lies; plenty of graduates and young professionals seeking centrally located accommodation but there will be a tipping point on affordability.
By NC
Yes it definitely is the case that the vast majority of property is being bought by investors here and abroad. One development I know of has had every single apartment bought off plan by Chinese investors. Most of the new developments are PRS as well.
By David
Look at the grandiosity of the buildings in the background, dirty….but grandiose.
By John S