Trilogy recruits U&I, Argent veteran
James Heather has returned to Manchester. Could he work his magic on Trilogy Real Estate’s Great Northern Warehouse?
Throughout his career, Heather has had his hand in several of Manchester’s most prominent projects. While a partner at Argent, he led the delivery of One St Peters Square. When he joined U+I, he became the development director charged with Mayfield – securing the scheme’s strategic regeneration framework and £23m in grant funding for Mayfield Park.
Now, after two years in Yorkshire, Heather is working part-time as a development consultant for Trilogy Real Estate with an eye for revitalising the developer and investor’s portfolio.
The gem of the Trilogy crown in Manchester is Great Northern Warehouse – a 6.5-acre site with a masterplan in place for a transformation into an 800,000 sq ft mixed-use hot spot.
Heather’s appointment means big news for Great Northern, with Trilogy set to begin consultation on the warehouse’s redevelopment on 5 September.
- Hear more from Trilogy Real Estate at Place North West’s Future of Retail event on 15 September.
Trilogy founder and chief executive Robert Wolstenholme praised Heather’s hire, describing why Heather is the ideal person to bring on board at this point of the Great Northern project.
“We have been looking for someone to join our team with demonstrable construction and development experience, particularly to help us lead a team in Manchester as we look ahead to future developments,” Wolstenholme said.
“James’s track record, knowledge and influence in the Manchester market will prove invaluable as Trilogy looks to progress with a number of projects across the UK, in particular with Manchester’s Great Northern.”
For his part, Heather said he is thrilled to be back in the Manchester property scene.
“I’ve joined a hugely exciting company with some great people and some great projects,” Heather said. “I’m looking forward to getting back involved in Manchester and property and doing everything that I love doing in the redevelopment world.
“It’s a huge privilege to be able to work in this industry where you can transform places and change things – hopefully always for the better.”
Great Northern, especially, has a lot of potential, according to Heather.
“It’s a huge amount of space that people don’t really interact with,” he said. “Anything we can do around bringing it into its rightful position is going to be fantastic.”
Heather is nonplussed when asked about the challenges of developing in an era of economic uncertainty, rising skills gaps, and supply chain issues – not to mention the pandemic’s lingering impacts on the office market.
He acknowledges development will not be easy but remains optimistic.
“There’s the opportunity to try and do something different – to rethink how we approach developments, whether that’s residential, commercial or retail,” Heather said.
“What is the new world going to bring us? I think that’s the exciting thing for me: how we entice people back into the city and create a buzz.”
In addition to taking the role with Trilogy, Heather is also working with Transport for Greater Manchester’s estates team to help them maximise the use of the organisation’s strategic sites.
The two jobs spell a busy future for Heather, but he is excited to get to work helping Manchester grow.
“I still hope that I’m young enough and still passionate enough to deliver everything that I can and want to do within the city,” Heather said. “I love this place.”
The Great Northern really is an epitome of Manchester’s architecture and is a true gem that hasn’t yet reached its full potential.
Given the success of Mayfield which has barely even started yet, this feels like a potentially exciting project.
I hope they take advantage of the Viadux scheme/wider redevelopment area that’s currently taking place and provide some top notch public realm between the two.
By Anonymous
This veteran line is a bit over used place north west – and not very complimentary in my opinion.
By Bob Dawson