King’s Macclesfield completes sale to fund £60m school relocation
King’s Macclesfield has sold sites to Homes England, retirement living developer McCarthy & Stone, and housebuilder Bellway to help finance its move to a £60m school on an 80-acre site outside Prestbury.
The school’s main site on the approach to the town centre from Macclesfield District General Hospital comprises the grade-two listed main school building, erected in the 19th century, and other school buildings dating from the 20th century.
This has been sold to three developers. Hillcrest Homes will be developing the historic buildings into apartments; Bellway Homes has acquired the sports and playing fields along Westminster Road for housing; and McCarthy & Stone is looking to build retirement living homes on Coare Street.
The sale of the historic buildings to Hillcrest was revealed last month.
A further site at Fence Avenue has been sold to Homes England; together, all four developers could deliver up to 450 homes across Macclesfield.
The sale of these sites will be used to support the delivery of King’s new campus, incorporating both its primary and secondary school alongside a sports centre featuring a swimming pool, sports pitches, and a performance hall.
Working with Pick Everard on the designs for the project, the school has already purchased a 50-acre plot off Derby Fields, as well as Fallibroome Farm and its paddocks, which will provide a campus of around 80 acres.
The school’s new campus, along with outline plans for homes on the school’s former sites, secured planning consent in April last year with Savills acting as planner.
King’s headmaster Dr Simon Hyde said: “We are extremely keen to ensure that our legacy is a positive one both for the school and Macclesfield in general.
“The development of a mix of sustainable housing close to the town centre will hopefully continue to bolster the attractiveness of Macclesfield as a place to live and support the many excellent new shops and businesses currently taking root.”
Ed Rooney, development director at Savills Manchester, added: “This is a major project for the North West and something which we are incredibly proud to have been involved in.
“The sale of the existing school premises now creates a significant pipeline for much-needed housing delivery in Macclesfield. Through this process, the school has also demonstrated an innovative way of financing a state-of-the-art new education facility which will be retained in Macclesfield for generations to come.”
