Novo eyes December start for Chapel Street resi

Novo Property has named CPUK as main contractor on its £5m apartment scheme on the site of the former Albert Vaults pub on Chapel Street in Salford, with work set to begin in December.

Novo has appointed Skelmersdale-based CPUK on the eight-storey project, which will provide 25 apartments for owner-occupiers and a commercial unit on the corner of Chapel Street and Spaw Street.

Around half of the apartments have already been reserved on the scheme, which faces the former Manchester Modernist Society headquarters and the grade two-listed Chapel Street United Reform Church.

CPUK is due to start on a 57-week construction programme in December this year, with a completion date of January 2019.

The professional team on the project includes AFL Architects and Curtins.

Ben Fearns, managing director of Novo Property Group, said: “It’s been a huge effort from everyone involved to commence works on this great scheme.

“We are proud to be a part of the regeneration of Chapel Street and excited to deliver another 25 homes to this corner of the City. CPUK has been an excellent construction partner, understanding our proposals and helping turn them into a reality.”

Steve Burke, managing director of CPUK, added: “This is a very restricted site with many logistical challenges; we’ve been working with Novo and the design team for over a year on this scheme – it’ll be great to get it moving at last.”

Other projects developer Novo is bringing forward include an office-to-residential conversion in Altrincham town centre.

Novo, in partnership with Southway Housing Trust, has acquired a 9,500 sq ft office and retail building on Regent Road, and plans to develop the building into apartments, to be developed by Novo and the housing trust’s commercial brand, Gecko Homes.

The building, which currently has four tenants with leases due to expire in the next two-and-half years, was purchased from a private client of Regional Property Solutions.

Fearns said detailed designs for the project, which includes shared ownership apartments, would be released “in the coming months”.