GMPVF acquires Island Site

The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund has acquired three buildings in Manchester city centre comprising 55,000 sq ft for an undisclosed sum.

The adjoining buildings, collectively known as the Island Site, include Grange House, 5 Ridgefield and Old Colony House.

The site features a number of established ground floor tenants including Grill on the Alley, Pizza Express and San Rocco.

In June, a consortium led by Bluemantle decided to sell rather than redevelop the Island Site between South King Street and John Dalton Street.

Island Site LLP, a partnership between Dolphin Land, Reflect Property Developments and Cheshire-based Bluemantle Investments, previously owned the mixed-use block.

Jones Lang LaSalle was instructed to sell the building at a guide price of £8.265m.

Aoife McEvoy, associate at GVA and fund manager to GMPVF, said: "The Island Site represents an exciting opportunity for GMPVF to redevelop these prominently located buildings. It is a great medium term redevelopment opportunity, which demonstrates GMPVF's continued appetite for quality investment in the city centre. We look forward to progressing the proposals for the site over the coming months and will be appointing a design team in due course."

Cllr Kieran Quinn, chairman of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and executive leader of Tameside Council, added: "It's a really exciting time for GMPVF, with the redevelopment of One St Peters Square underway and most recently, the Island Site acquisition. Both demonstrate the Fund's commitment to development projects in Manchester for both the immediate and long term future. With a financial allocation of £300m to undertake direct development in the region, GMPVF is in a prime position to take advantage of the current economic climate and significantly expand its development portfolio. We will continue to actively seek such opportunities in the city centre and the wider North West Region."

The acquisition of the Island Site is in addition to the purchases of the former Royal Mail Sorting Office in Stockport, a 12.5-acre development site along Calver Road, Warrington and a 0.3-acre site in Liverpool city centre.

GMPVF and GVA are progressing all three of these schemes and are working towards securing planning consent in the New Year. GMPVF is part of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund administered by Tameside Council.