Bruntwood brings Select on board for Oxford Road resi

Bruntwood has named Select Property Group as residential development partner for the four blocks containing a total of 650 units at the £750m scheme planned for the former BBC site in Oxford Road, Manchester.

Manchester City Council approved the masterplan for the nine-acre area in April. The development will comprise 1.2m sq ft of offices, anchored by the 400,000 sq ft Sir Henry Royce Institute for Materials Research & Innovation, that Bruntwood will deliver alongside its science and technology arm, Manchester Science Partnerships.

Alderley Edge-based Select will work up detailed plans for the four residential blocks to comprise 650 studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments, together with two serviced apartment buildings, that will predominantly be occupied by international students. Select’s Vita Student brand developed high-end student accommodation at nearby First Street on a site acquired from Ask. Former Ask chief Ken Knott joined Vita as a board director in late 2013.

Chris Oglesby, chief executive of Bruntwood, said: “We chose to work alongside Select due to the strong alignment of their customer focussed proposition with ours. Working together, we aim to deliver a fully integrated residential and commercial community to our target market.

“It is, however, their customers and ongoing management of the residential space alongside our management of the commercial and wider place that will create a truly distinctive new community that will help drive this city’s continued growth.”

Mark Stott, chief executive of Select, said that new development would be “unlike anything in the city.”