Development services of real estate

Tender description

The University of Manchester intends to seek a joint venture partner to invest in and to deliver its circa 1 500 000 000 GBP (Gross Development Value) North Campus site. The vision is to create a dynamic, world-class community with innovation, collaboration and enterprise at its heart and this trailblazing innovation district (known as ID Manchester) is expected to transform central Manchester. ID Manchester is a circa 26 acre (10,5 hectare) site on the South Eastern side of Manchester City Centre bordered by Whitworth Street to the North, London Road and Coburg Street to the East, Sackville Street to the West and the Mancunian Way to the South. The development opportunity is circa 16,4 acres (6,64 hectares) which is currently occupied by the University for teaching and research purposes. The site benefits from existing green space and the 620 000 square feet (57 599 square metres) Grade II Listed Sackville Street Building. The University intends to carry out a procurement for a joint venture partner who has the scale and ambition to make ID Manchester a global and local success. ID Manchester is adjacent to Manchester’s main public transport hub Piccadilly Station, which will be the arrival point for High Speed 2 (HS2). ID Manchester is another piece in the jigsaw of the major regeneration taking place in that area of the city including Mayfield, London Road Fire Station, Kampus, Circle Square and the 1 billion GBP investment already being made into the University’s main Oxford Road campus by the University of Manchester. It is intended that a corporate joint venture will be formed between the University and the successful partner(s), which will take forward the development of ID Manchester as a mixed use community aligned to the vision of the University. The development will be required to attract science, research, development, cultural and technology companies, as well as accommodating new residential space, creating a destination in its own right. The site development and use will focus on specialities which combine the research and industrial strengths of the University and the city region with national economic priorities, such as, advanced materials, health innovation, artificial intelligence, digital technology and industrial biotechnology which are key areas for Manchester’s industrial strategy. It is anticipated it will create approximately 6 000 new jobs. It is anticipated that the joint venture (or Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) wholly owned by the joint venture) will procure and carry out all infrastructure works, undertake direct development, secure occupiers and dispose of completed development parcels and/or sell serviced plots in accordance with its business plan. The University will retain significant influence within the joint venture and will continue to hold the freehold of the site. It will actively lever its research and training activities to contribute to the success of ID Manchester. ID Manchester has the benefit of planning guidance in the form of the adopted Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF), however, there may be scope to revisit the SRF to reflect recent market changes and to align with the University’s current vision. Any revision to the SRF would need to be brought forward in close collaboration with Manchester City Council. On completion of its new engineering campus on Oxford Road the University plans to vacate the ID Manchester site. The University will continue to occupy accommodation at the South end of the site, where it has significant business-facing research activity, including the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) and the recently opened 60 000 000 GBP Masdar Building, home to the Graphene Innovation Engineering Centre (GEIC), which delivers the potential commercialisation of Graphene and 2D materials by helping business partners to scale-up and apply the technology in a range of new and highly enhanced products. ID Manchester is an unrivalled opportunity to curate and develop a unique site into a world class innovation district. For further information on the ID Manchester site and vision please visit the website www.id-manchester.com