Tenant and funding secured for Altrincham health hub
Citybranch has agreed a £35m deal with Canada Life to forward fund the construction of the South Trafford Health & Wellbeing Centre, being built on the former site of Altrincham General Hospital.
The developer has also agreed to fully let the 88,000 sq ft hub to the NHS Property Services on a 30-year income strip lease, a structure which allows the NHS to acquire the freehold interest at the end of the period for £1.
The bespoke facility will include a number of GP practices, a pharmacy and café, as well as a health and wellbeing care co-ordination centre, in line with the preventative care vision of NHS England.
The building will also house a new library for Trafford Council.
Demolition has begun on site. The scheme is due for completion in spring 2018. AFL is the architect.
Adam Gross, director at Citybranch, said: “This is an entirely new approach to health and social care delivery that enables the co-location of services and creates an exemplar template for other public bodies to follow.
“It also allows the NHS to dispose of assets that are no longer fit-for-purpose and enter into highly-favourable arrangements without the need to raise any capital expenditure. The income strip lease will give the tenant complete control over the management, running and future ownership of the building – a big step forward from the PFI model traditionally used by the NHS.”
Property investment advisor Christopher Dee advised Citybrand, alongside Addleshaw Goddard. Canada Life was advised by CBRE, and NHS Property Services advised by Cushman & Wakefield.
