Salboy wins bid race for Castle Irwell
The developer has won the race to buy the 36-acre development site from the University of Salford, purchasing the plot for a figure in excess of the £15m asking price.
The Fred Done-backed company is now looking to build up to 500 homes and 25,000 sq ft of commercial space at the former Castle Irwell student campus, which sits on loop of the River Irwell, around a mile outside Manchester City Centre.
The University of Salford instructed Tim Claxton Property to dispose of the site in March this year after securing planning permission in October 2018, advised by Euan Kellie Property Solutions.
While the plot was offered for sale for £15m, Salboy is understood to have paid over the asking price to secure the site. There was also believed to have been strong interest in the site from both registered providers and national housebuilders.
Salboy is understood to be looking at submitting the first reserved matters planning application for the site in the coming months, following the main principles set out in the outline consent. EKPS has been retained as planner, with architect Calderpeel and landscape architect Layer also working with the developer.
The outline permission includes a Section 106 agreement, which covers giving over 3.83 acres in the north west of the site to the council to develop a school. It also includes a contribution of £367,000 to sports facilities and £145,000 for highways improvements.
The University had been looking to appoint a development partner for the site in June last year but instead decided to proceed with the sale. The former student village on the site, which featured more than 1,000 student beds across a number of four-storey blocks, closed in June 2015.
Salboy has become a prolific developer in Salford in recent years, having completed the £79m, 399-home Local Blackfriars in September. Other projects currently on site include the £85m Crescent, which features towers of 22 and 17 storeys.
Kuits advised the University of Salford on the deal, while BLM advised Salboy.
Thank goodness this didn’t fall into the hands of a bog standard volume house builder. Hopefully we’ll get some half decent designs and build quality on this important site.
By Basher
The council recently stupidly rejected an application for homes on Seaford Road
By Dan
Basher looking at that box bashing type red brick monstrosity that bet with Fred has come up with on chapel street don’t be getting your hopes up too high.
By Bday
Look forward to seeing the open book viability appraisal submitted with the RM and just exactly how much affordable housing will be provided….
By Cynical
The new wetland to the north on the meander of the Irwell has become a real asset to the area. There is an opportunity for the future designs to also incorporate and improve on the biodiversity, green infrastructure and public space created by that scheme rather than isolating it from the south.
By G.I.
I’m glad someone like Salboy and Fred Done are prepared to take the risk on these sites and put their money into local regeneration of the city. Manchester is changing, and from what I can see, it’s for a better future for everyone.
By Casper
Fred Done and Salboy are a credit to the region
By Dan
A piece of land lying derelict for years has now been bought by local businessman and money going back into Salford. How can anyone think this is a bad thing?
By Josh
Hey up G.I.: You say wetland? Who wants to build and buy houses on wetland? Come on Hong Kong and China, buy unseen unbuilt property in England. What could possibly go wrong?
By James Yates
Pleased as punch for Simon and team at Salboy. They’ll put everything behind this and leave a positive stamp on the area. School, affordable homes and private. Super super work guys. Chuffed to see you got this. It will mean a quality piece of real estate that will last. Anyone who wants to see their quality as an end product, well happily show you around blackfriars and transmission house in Jan. Then crescent and burlington in q2 2020. If we built them like Salboy kit in 98 to 2008 we wouldn’t have all the issues we now have as managing agents putting shoddy work right.
By Michael Howard - urbanbubble
Let’s hope those future house buyers can get a mortgage being next to a wetland/flooding area….I’m sure this is something they’ve considered
By Steve
Judging by the picture and the land circled in red they will own the access to the wetlands?
By Paul
The area north of the red outline is designated by the Environment Agency as ‘flood storage’, i.e. ‘wetlands’.
By Standards
Basher – have you seen Salboy’s plans? It will look like a poor version of Hulme. Unfortunately
(and inevitably) even the credible ‘local developer’ will get consumed by the bottom line!!
By Oh no