Salford Uni moves to expand Peel Park Quarter
The university is in talks to buy council-owned land next to the David Lewis playing fields to boost its student accommodation offer at the campus by up to 700 beds.
The narrow plot is located between the existing Peel Park Quarter student accommodation village and the artificial grass sports pitch at the playing fields.
Salford University and Salford City Council have entered into a non-binding exclusivity agreement to enable due diligence and initial scheme designs to be progressed.
The potential acquisition is part of the university’s £2.5bn masterplan, spread across 240 acres and being delivered by the English Cities Fund development consortium comprising Muse Developments, Homes England and Legal & General.
The masterplan, designed by 5Plus Architects, is intended to support the regeneration of the University of Salford’s existing campus, including areas around Salford Crescent, Peel Park and Frederick Road North.
Planning consent for the Peel Park Quarter student accommodation project was secured in 2013 and the development was completed in 2015.
The scheme was developed by Salford Village, a consortium made up of Campus Living Villages, a student accommodation provider, construction firm Graham Construction and investors Equitix and Kier Project Investment.
Designed by architecture firm Sheppard Robson, the scheme cost £81m and comprises 1,367 en-suite bedrooms over eight-storeys.
Gillespies was the landscape architect for the project.