LTE in sale talks to advance estate overhaul 

The operator of The Manchester College has selected Miller Homes to deliver 236 homes at its 18-acre Northenden Campus, while negotiations to offload additional sites to fund the college’s £139m estates strategy are ongoing. 

LTE Group is in the process of consolidating its disparate estate by disposing of some of its ageing assets and building several new facilities, including the £54m city centre campus on part of the former Boddington’s brewery site in Manchester. 

The company also plans to sell the 6.5-acre Fielden Campus off Barlow Moor Road in West Didsbury, which it says has the potential to be redeveloped into up to 50 homes. 

The eight-acre Nicholls Campus in Ardwick is another site LTE is looking to offload. The land is considered suitable for housing and could be incorporated into plans to redevelop Ardwick Green, the group says.

Miller Homes’ plans for the Northenden Campus, located between Wythenshawe Park and Princess Parkway, include the creation of 47 affordable homes.

Openshaw Manc College 2

Caddick Construction is redeveloping the college’s Openshaw campus

To date, LTE has sold sites in Moston, where housing association One Manchester is bringing forward 55 affordable homes, as well as its St John’s Campus on the edge of Spinningfields 

The 39,000 sq ft building is earmarked for demolition by developer HBD, which is readying plans to redevelop the site into offices. 

The overall estate strategy is designed to “transform the Manchester College and UCEN Manchester’s education and training delivery locations over the next two years”, according to LTE. 

The group’s plans for a consolidated, revamped campus include: 

  • A 200,000 sq ft creative and performing arts facility on the site of the former Boddingtons brewery on Great Ducie Street, opposite the Manchester Arena. Contractor Willmott Dixon is on site and the centre is expected to be operational in time for the 2022/2023 academic year 
  • A centre of excellence for construction and logistics at the college’s Openshaw Campus. Contractor Caddick Construction has started on site and is expected to complete work by September 
  • The completed CityLabs 1.0 on Oxford Road, where the college’s centre of excellence for medical science is housed  
  • Learning hubs offering a broader curriculum in both Wythenshawe and Harpurhey.  

Disposing of underperforming and outdated assets is a “critical element of the college’s financial plan to self-fund the majority of investment in the new estate,” Manchester City Council added, in a report to its economy scrutiny committee discussing LTE’s strategy.

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