Manchester kicks off hunt for £750m Wythenshawe regen partner
Developers will battle it out for the opportunity to transform the town centre, delivering 1,600 homes and much more.
Dubbed Wythenshawe Civic, the £750m regeneration project will be delivered over the next 15 years.
Manchester City Council has officially fired the starting gun on the procurement process that will see a joint venture partner appointed.
Developers have until Friday 8 November to submit their expressions of interest.
The opportunity, like many others before it, is likely to attract bids from many of the region’s regeneration specialists.
Companies such as Muse, Cityheart, Genr8, and FEC are normally there or thereabouts when it comes to large-scale regeneration projects in the North West.
The city council acquired the 1970s Wythenshawe Civic Centre from St Modwen last year to unlock the long-waited regeneration of the town centre.
As well as 1,600 homes, the city council’s vision for the site features:
- A mobility hub
- The conversion of around 130,000 sq ft of vacant shops into employment space
- A 20,000 sq ft food and beverage destination
- An expanded retail offer, including a Lidl supermarket
- A new public square as part of a public realm refresh
- A 2.5-acre public park
- A cultural hub delivered in collaboration with HOME
The city council has also identified several opportunity sites within the red line boundary, which include the former Shell HQ, former bus station, Brotherton House, former Barclays Data Centre, Forum car park, Alpha and Centron House, and the former Gala Bingo site.
View the full Wythenshawe Civic framework
Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We know that the Civic is the heart of the Wythenshawe community and we have the key opportunity here to deliver a once-in-a-generation programme of regeneration – including new affordable housing – that will breathe new life into a vital space for local people.
“We are looking for a team that share our long-term ambition for the Civic, who will help drive the regeneration in the area and work with us to deliver this project in the coming years – including new shop, new homes and new jobs for Wythenshawe.”
Savills has been appointed to lead the procurement and a successful team is expected to be announced in late spring 2024.
Adam Mirley, head of development at Savills in Manchester, said the opportunity “will not only breathe new life into the area but bring with it new homes and jobs and overall visitor experience”
He added: “We are expecting significant interest in the long-term opportunity and look forward to finding the council a partner with the right credentials to deliver an exemplar development and make a real different to the local community.”
Yawn ,let’s build shops, food hub in deprived centre, more housing oh yeah let’s use the car park so nowhere to park😡
By Anonymous
Hope it lives up to expectations. The 6 million dollar question is of course affordable housing
By Andrew Battersby
I have worked in Wythenshawe for over 30 years, and seen many changes, including loss of the theatre, lack of branded organisations and a feeling of hope for the future on the faces of many residents and Civic Centre. This new plan, if taken to its conclusion, will rejuvenate the community and make theCivic experience on to be proud of. I count myself as a true Wythenshavian and proud of working with and for its lovely people who make Wythenshawe what it is – a family community where hopes have been suffocated for so long. This proposal is about breathing fresh air and new future.
By Mike George - WFM Radio at the Forum
What about a Cinema?
By Anonymous
Need food banks, social housing that isn’t private rented at market rates but instead matches council house rates and goes to those on the housing list not private tenants. A business hub? For what? Basically they are renting office space out, putting a few shops back and building some fancy flats that no local people will get or be able to afford. Not a project for the people of wythenshawe.
By Anonymous
Anonymous 11.16am, your aspiration for Wythenshawe is more food banks? Surely the aspiration should be for well paid jobs so people do not need to rely on food banks.
By Anonymous
Anonymous 11.16, there are an awful lot of people In Wythenshawe that will be happy to afford them, and regeneration is always a good thing. Not everything is misery and a race to the bottom.
By Anonymous