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Official Manchester Thread 13

2M views 12K replies 541 participants last post by  scuffycat 
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#321 ·
Down the side of the sofa?
Under that pile of last Sunday's newspapers?
Next to the toilet?
In the side door pocket of the b4m-mobile?
In the freezer wrapped up in a zip lock bag along with the Heckler and Koch 9mm?
In the inside pocket of your PVC leatherette Fonzie jacket along with your flick comb and packet of three ribbed?

Theres a bloomin World Cup final on for b4m's sake! Must admit that apart from that the telly is bobbins though!

Ive got loads of heritage nazi stuff to do - can i 'outsource' some to you if you are that bored?
 
#322 ·
The Longford said:
Down the side of the sofa?
Under that pile of last Sunday's newspapers?
Next to the toilet?
In the side door pocket of the b4m-mobile?
In the freezer wrapped up in a zip lock bag along with the Heckler and Koch 9mm?
In the inside pocket of your PVC leatherette Fonzie jacket along with your flick comb and packet of three ribbed?

Theres a bloomin World Cup final on for b4m's sake! Must admit that apart from that the telly is bobbins though!

Ive got loads of heritage nazi stuff to do - can i 'outsource' some to you if you are that bored?
yeah, send me some I'll do an hour or two...
 
#326 ·
The Longford said:
Reach in to your heart young Jedi.
There you will find the truth.
Come over to the dark side.

Repeat after me
Park Hill Rules!
Park Hill Rules!
Park Hill Rules!
... i cant long sidious, i never embraced the force. I'm more of a phasers and photon torpedo kinda guy. You cant beat a bit of honest to goodness firepower... :)
 
#328 ·
Was talking to someone who has seen West Properties plans for the Whitworth St carpark ,, he said thet it's going to look fantastic, a curved glass building the same height as it neighbouring buildings , resi , offices , with a public courtyard with bars and shops in ,,,he described it as futuristic , mmmm will be interesting to see dont ya think?
 
#329 ·
Probably one of the most important and sensitive development sites in the city, surrounded on all sides by magnificent archtiecture, the junction of two of Manchester's grandest streets (Whitworth and Princess) this development absolutely has to be of the very highest order. It must also ensure that it contributes to the vibrancy of the Canal St district rather than detract from it. A tall order indeed. Looking forward to seeing Ian Simpson's proposals for this site.
 
#331 ·
I would like to see a building there - i disagree Accy - not a place for a public square iMO.
Ive seen early proposals which i wasnt too keen on but i know Simpsons have redrawn it. It can handle something quite bulky on that corner and i supect they will try to get retail A1 or A3 in at ground level but i wouldnt be too precious about it if they dont.
 
#332 ·
Not sure if this has been posted- apologys if it has- an article in propertyweek recently about Manchester
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Manchester

Developers in Manchester are increasingly excited by the idea of skyscrapers, seeing them as symbols of the city's growing status and achievement. "Manchester has international aspirations and is rapidly becoming an international quality city," says Merepark director Richard Peel. His company is one half of the joint venture Inacity, which has planning permission to build a 60-storey, £220m tower next to Piccadilly station, with 700 apartments anchored by a 220-bed hotel.

Yet although a range of exceptionally tall buildings is planned for the city, most are mixed use and dominated by residential units and hotels rather than offices - the latest is the 171 m Beetham Tower, (half Hilton hotel, half residential), which celebrated a topping out ceremony just last month. The only pure office tower with space available is Bruntwood's refurbishment of Piccadilly Plaza. It was recently renamed City Tower and is 28 storeys high.

Peter Crowther is sales and development director at Bruntwood. He says the construction costs measured against the returns possible for residential development mean it is unlikely that new towers will be built solely for office use in the city in the near future. "It just doesn't work at the moment in Manchester unless we were to see some significant rental growth or demand from an organisation for a pre-let."

Peter Gallagher, head of Dunlop Haywards' north-west operation, says the cost of refurbishment versus new build has made City Tower viable whereas a new build might not have been. He says that an issue with most towers is that of limited floorplates: "More and more of our enquiries now are saying they want their space to be on as few levels as possible. There is an immediate conflict with the idea of going into a tower because they tend to be high and slim."

City Tower's floorplates are 835 m² and Crowther confirms that lettings done since refurbishment began have been for up to two floors, rather than larger occupiers.

Meanwhile, plans for a 35-storey office tower at new business quarter Spinningfields are also progressing. Originally, developer Allied London wanted to build a Foster-designed sloping tower for 60,390 m2 of offices. This has now been redesigned without the slope and Allied London is contemplating changing it to a mixed-use building.

Graham Skinner, a director at Allied London, says the developer would be prepared to speculatively develop 50% of the tower but would need a pre-let to trigger the build. "We are working on a couple of schemes and we'll decide which one to put in for planning. We're looking at some other conceptions," he says.

The most dramatic feature on the city's skyline at the moment is the Beetham Organisation's 47-storey 301 Deansgate Tower. Hilton is to open a 279-bed hotel and all the tower's 219 apartments have been pre-sold. Beetham also has the option of building 6130 m2 of offices there but is now reviewing its options.

Even though his proposed tower, Albany Crown, is an £83m mixed-use development, Chris Nisbet, chairman of Albany Assets, has innovative plans for the 10-storey office element that he plans to wrap around the base of the tower. He says the traffic flow into offices means it is sensible to keep them at the lower levels. "If you have them high up, you need even more lifts and the more lifts you've got the less useable space you've got."

The office floorplates will be 1395 m2 in size and Nisbet intends to break two of the floors down into flexible grade A office space offering between 185 m2 and 465 m2. These will be available as "lease purchases", which tenants will have an option to buy at any time based on prices fixed at the start of the tenancy. Nisbet says not only will this help those who want to put their office into a self-invested personal pension, it offers an alternative exit strategy. "If you outgrow the office, then rather than paying to get out of the lease, you can buy the office, then put it on the market and sell it."

He believes this is an ideal opportunity for companies that want to move to Manchester and need grade A office space but want to test the water rather than commit for 15 or 25 years.

John Adams, a partner at Drivers Jonas, has worked on most of Manchester's tall buildings applications, including the Beetham Tower, Albany's Crown building and the Eastgate Inacity Tower. He says the council always looks for exceptional architectural quality, strong regeneration benefits and highly sustainable locations often at gateways to the city centre. "Beetham is a prime example of that; it establishes an iconic entry to the city centre on Deansgate," he says. "Manchester has a particular scale of urban grain and Victorian heritage and street pattern which lends itself well to tall buildings."

Adams says the Southern Gateway area of the city is likely to be a prime area for towers. "Any future tall buildings would not be in isolation but would be part of mixed-use developments."

Dave Roscoe is city centre group leader for planning at Manchester council. He says all modern tower developments in the city are mixed use. "We don't really have any modern office towers. There has been talk of one in Spinningfields but it has been all talk and no delivery. There are fairly obvious reasons for that in that no one is going to build [a tower] speculatively so you need a substantial end user. It doesn't mean it wouldn't work."

Inacity's Peel says there is no intention of adding offices to the 60-storey tower at Piccadilly. "There will be office developments in the area and fundamentally the hotel is there to service them. However, we won't rule out looking at other schemes in that area for offices."

Summing up

Although Manchester is likely to see many more tall buildings, those looking for office space at the top of towers will have a hard time finding it once Bruntwood lets its space. The financial viability of residential and mixed-use towers has so far held developers back from building pure office skyscrapers. There are plenty of office buildings being developed up to 20 storeys that would, in any other city, be considered tall. In Manchester, the scale is different.
 
#334 ·
Cap & Reg and GE perform Manchester Arena purchase



Capital & Regional and GE Real Estate have acquired Manchester Arena for £61.7m from Anschutz Entertainment Group

The complex includes the 20,000-seat MEN Arena and sits on an 8 acre (3.2 ha) site in the heart of Manchester city centre. It also comprises 120,000 sq ft (11,148 sq m) of offices, most of which are occupied by a call centre, and a 1,075-space car park.

The arena is one of the north-west’s leading music, sporting and comedy venues. The complex was completed in 1995. Entertainment group SMG operates the arena.

The joint venture is 30% owned by Capital & Regional and 70% by GE Real Estate. Fredrik Widlund, managing director of business development at GE Real Estate, said: ‘This acquisition offered the opportunity to acquire a prime mixed-use investment in the heart of Manchester city centre.’

Bank of Scotland Corporate is providing the senior debt facility. Christopher Dee acted on behalf of the joint venture.
 
#335 ·
jrb said:
The arena is one of the north-west’s leading music, sporting and comedy venues. The complex was completed in 1995. Entertainment group SMG operates the arena.
One of the north-west's leading venues!!!

Should that not have read one of the world's leading venues?

Who wrote this article, must have been based in London!
 
#336 ·
TheFly said:
One of the north-west's leading venues!!!

Should that not have read one of the world's leading venues?

Who wrote this article, must have been based in London!
Yes, didn't it win 'World Entertainment Venue of the Year' award last year... the awards took place in New York, and I think it won something similar a few years back as well. It is a top place to go, as long as your not right up in the gods... been there quite a few times. Love it.
 
#337 ·
In its first operational year the venue's target of 130 events, attracting 1 million people was easily exceeded, with over 1.2 million people entertained at 143 events.

The venue's versatility has meant that it can be transformed from an intimate theatre environment for 3,000 to a state-of-the-art arena capable of accommodating 21,000.

From U2 to Pavarotti, Ice Hockey to Boxing, Disney shows and Motorbike Exhibitions through to blue-chip AGMs, this multi-purpose entertainment and sports Arena caters for all, with full TV broadcasting and recording facilities.

For each of the past four years (2001-2004), the Manchester Evening News Arena has been nominated 'International Venue of the Year' in the Pollstar concert industry awards. In 2003 and 2004, it achieved recognition as 'Busiest Arena Venue In The World' based on concert ticket sales, beating all other European and American indoor venues.

Tickets for the legendary Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones sold out in record time when both performed sell-out shows at the Arena in 2003 - the year the venue won the accolade of 'Busiest Venue in the World' for the first time, with over 800,000 concert goers through its doors.
In 2004, the Queen of Pop, Madonna, returned to Manchester for the first time since her 1980's British debut at the infamous Hacienda, to perform two sell-out shows at the Arena.

The Manchester Evening News Arena also has an established reputation for showcasing high profile domestic and international sporting events. Masters League Football Tournament; Roller Hockey Tournament; International Table Tennis Championships; UK Ice Hockey Championships; International Boxing Bouts; International Netball and the 2002 Commonwealth Games have all been hosted at the Arena
 
#339 ·
The arena was named "International Venue Of The Year" in 2001 by concert Industry insiders 'Pollstar' and was nominated in the same catergory from 2002-2004. Winning the title of 'International Venue Of The Year' at the Pollstar Awards makes the MEN Arena one of the most important and successful venues in the world. In 2003 & 2004 the arena was also named "Busiest Arena Venue In The World" based on ticket sales per year across the globe beating all of the world's major concert venues such as New York's Madison Square Garden and London's Wembley Arena. Since opening in 1995 the arena see's over 155 events annually and over 1.2 million people pass through the arena doors each year for concerts alone, giving the arena the nickname 'Europe's busiest concert venue' in contrary to this the arena is now competing on a world stage with venues such as New York's Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Staples Center such the success of the venue. The arena's popularity is gaining each year as the last 3 years have seen a record of 180 events per year with 1.8 million visitors attending concerts, family shows, conventions and sporting events. The MEN Arena is considered to be the most major of the UK's indoor venues outside of London because of it's size, popularity and pristege as a high calibre of stars have appeared at the venue such as Kylie Minogue,Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, hometown boy Ian Brown, Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney as well as most of today's major touring artists.
 
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