Splash acquisition drive continues with latest mill buy

Urban Splash has bought the grade two-listed Beehive Mill in Ancoats, from Delancey. The 53,600 sq ft mill was understood to be on the market for around £5m.

The building dates from 1824, when it opened as a cotton mill. It has since become known as the home of popular nightclub Sankey’s, which occupied the ground and first floor. The club has now closed.

The rest of the Jersey Street warehouse is occupied as offices. The deal was a swift purchase by Urban Splash, moving from offer to completion in nine working days.

It is the third major acquisition by the company in the city region in past ten months. Other major projects underway include the residential conversion of Brownsfield Mill, and the refurbishment of Office Village.

Nathan Cornish, director at Urban Splash, said: “We make no secret we’ve tried and failed to buy this building in the past so it’s been a long-term target for us.

“A lot of people, including us at Urban Splash, know the building as the home of Sankey’s which took up around a fifth of the building. Our focus and responsibility is now to give it an exciting future to further boost this booming part of Manchester.”

The purchase extends Urban Splash’s portfolio in the Ancoats area; next door, New Islington is a key development area for the company and is home to its modular family housing concept, known as HoUSe. Urban Splash has also recently secured planning permission for its Mansion House apartment scheme.

Urban Splash intends to keep the building as workspaces.

Cornish said: “Urban Splash and many others see this area as a great place build houses and apartments, but we also believe it needs a working heartbeat too. We’ve recently completed the nearby Stubbs Mill; its letting to Fanatics will bring 250 new staff to Manchester and Beehive will give us the chance to offer more great workspace to the market.

“Two-thirds of the building is vacant so we will be refurbishing much of that space to make it feel more like an Urban Splash building. We are genuinely excited about what we can do with this historic venue.”

Savills represented Delancey.