The BBC has picked up the keys, but what else is happening in Salford and Trafford? Neil Tague reports.
Choose your friends carefully. As the development that has underpinned growth in other cities stalls, Salford’s march forward continues relatively unabated. Being on the receiving end of five relocating departments of the BBC will do that, of course, but Salford is also aligned with other names that give it cause for optimism.
Peel Holdings remains central to the action of course, while Network Rail holds the key to the Greengate site that Salford needs to work to improve cross-river traffic with Manchester. And then there’s English Cities Fund (ECF), which combines Muse Developments with Legal & General and the Homes & Communities Agency.
ECF is behind what some in Manchester property refer to as “Little Spinningfields”. Just across the River Irwell from the aforementioned commercial quarter, the Chapel Street development zone has been subject of Salford’s largest ever planning application.
Deborah Murray, consulting director with DTZ, says: “Historically Chapel Street has experienced very low office take-up, partly because it’s outside the traditional core but also because of the lack of quality stock, and the poor quality of the current environment, characterised by congestion, vacant and derelict buildings and a lack of amenities.”
Murray feels that Chapel Street can give Salford a genuine business core. She continues: “It should be driven by a mix of uses, with no one type dominating. The independent sector will drive it, especially given the existing creative industries cluster and university population. It can provide a cost effective, ‘alternative’ location with both new build and converted space. Any new office or work space provided must complement rather than challenge existing nodes of activity, especially at the University and Innovation Park and the existing creative industries cluster around Islington Mill.”
There’s a growing feeling among senior figures in Manchester property that the time has come for the expansion of the business core; north to the Co-operative Quarter, east to Piccadilly, south to First Street and west over the River Irwell. The announcement of planning consent for £10.4m of public realm at Greengate, a 13-hectare site that joins the cities around the crossing of the River Irwell and the area to the north of the Greengate viaduct, symbolises that working relationship.
The public space will be delivered in two stages. The first will include new areas of public realm designed by Whitelaw Turkington and Arup with £8.5m of funding from the Homes & Communities Agency. It will include a pedestrian bridge linking the cities, the creation of the Urban Cove – a multi-use public space featuring water and bordered by amphitheatre style seating – and a link to encourage movement into the proposed Greengate square.
The commercial schemes proposed for the area won’t become a reality for some time, however, and the focus has to be on Salford Quays. Peel has gone out on something of a limb with a major speculative element to the first collection of buildings delivered at the site alongside the facilities to be occupied by the BBC and the University of Salford.
After the false start of Brian Greasley’s brief reign, things have started to move forward for Peel Media under the stewardship of ex-Virgin Media operations director Sinead Greenaway as chief executive and Bryan Gray as chairman.
In October, Peel handed over the first of the BBC’s three buildings to the corporation. Building C will be home to 5Live, BBC Sport and local and regional news. And with the market finally convinced the BBC is on its way, things are happening. Supermarket operator Booth’s (essentially Waitrose with a local twist should any BBC types be wondering) has signed up, as has Holiday Inn.
Chris Farrow, chief executive of urban regeneration company Central Salford, said at Insider’s Salford breakfast in December that the opportunity remains there for media companies to get in on the ground floor with western Europe’s first high definition studios – the BBC has pre-let only 20 per cent of the space. Those who’ve expected a magic bullet deal, a technology blue-chip, so far remain disappointed and many feel that a direct flight between Manchester and the west coast of the US is a must if MediaCity is to truly plug into the digital premier league.
Another topic that emerged at our Salford breakfast was the need for some cluster support and it’s a theory backed up by Paul Tobin, head of sales at local telecommunications business Armstrong Communications. He says: “We would like to see some form of technology centre in the area – I know there is one attached to Salford university but I mean something more substantial that would be recognised throughout the UK that could bring jobs to the area.
“We have some excellent technology companies dotted around but a central location would give it more identity and possibly attract investment from abroad. Salford has strengths in its motorway links, proximity to Manchester and the overseas visibility that brings. It also has a number of large educational establishments and ticks boxes in the lifestyle column. Salford’s not really been known as a modern city but the publicity surrounding MediaCity is helping.”
Maybe the Soapworks – or part of MediaCity itself – could be the answer to Tobin’s prayers. The former Colgate site was bought by local developer Nikal and its partners Abstract and private equity group Carlyle in October 2008 for somewhere between £5m and £10m. The buildings at the 8.42-acre Ivy Wharf site total around 500,000 sq ft and will be redeveloped in a £25m project that will offer to the market floorplates of 90,000 sq ft. It’s similar in scale to Fort Dunlop, the Birmingham landmark reinvented by Urban Splash, and Nikal will hope for similar success.
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