Circle picks Didsbury Point for £70m hospital

Countryside Properties and Liberty Property Trusts' Didsbury Point in south Manchester has been selected by healthcare company Circle as the location for a new £70m hospital.

Circle, an employee-owned partnership of clinicians, purchased a 5.25 acre site fronting the A5103 Princess Parkway for its new hospital, which will be known as CircleManchester.

Designed by Sir Norman Foster, outline planning consent was granted for a 600 patient hospital of up to 166,840 sq ft across three to four storeys.

CircleManchester is expected to open to NHS and private patients in 2013.

The new facility is adjacent to Countryside Properties and Liberty's 55,130 sq ft office building, One Didsbury Point.

Mark Chatham, director at Countryside Properties, said: "Ironically, the wider site used to be the home of the original Withington NHS Hospital which closed in 2002. A new NHS Hospital has already opened nearby.

"Organisations have been attracted to Didsbury Point due to the scheme's prominence, first class communications, local amenities in Burton Road and the provision of attractive new buildings built to a very high specification. A new Metrolink station is under construction within 350 metres of the site and will open in Summer 2013 as part of the Metrolink East Didsbury extension."

Ali Parsa, Circle's chief executive, said: "Our multiple award winning hospital in Bath has already redefined the quality of clinical care and patient experience on offer in the South West region. We will bring the same dedication to serving the people of Manchester."

Circle opened its first new build hospital, CircleBath, in March 2010, and construction has started on Circle's second new build hospital, CircleReading, which is due to open in autumn 2012.

Agents Knight Frank and P3 Property Consultants acted for Countryside Properties and Liberty and are retained as agents for the office space at One Didsbury Point.