News that Manchester City Council has approved the £1bn Holt Town Waterfront scheme should mean construction professional and contracting firms should be ramping up their construction recruitment activities over the coming 18 months. The regeneration scheme on the outskirts of Manchester City centre is the largest and most ambitious regeneration programme to be tackled by the city to date. It is also one of the UK’s largest city regeneration schemes.
Currently the 95-acre site comprises many derelict and under utilised buildings, but as the management team plans to release parcels of land to developers before the end of 2008, it is expected that there will be a considerable recruitment drive under way as the year progresses.
The company overseeing the development is Cibitas Developments, a partnership led by Stanhope and ING Real Estate with support from urban regeneration company New East Manchester.
The Holt Town Waterfront scheme is planned as a mixed-use neighbourhood designed for young families. Fifty per cent of the developments’ 4,300 homes will be ‘family friendly’, or with three beds or more, and the various open spaces and streets are designed to be safe and young children friendly.
In addition, the area will also have a river valley park, a new Metrolink tram stop linking the area both into the city centre and out to the east, studio/office accommodation and a range of shops, bars and restaurants, all of which are intended to establish a vibrant mixed neighbourhood, just five minutes from the city centre. Requirements for a new primary school are also currently under investigation.
The masterplan involves a series of land parcels ranging in size from 0.2 to 2.2 hectares structured by a hierarchy of streets and green spaces. These will be released to individual developers for construction. Green spaces are the core elements of the site including the canal and river, and connect with existing and planned green links through surrounding areas. With the release of the land banks expected to start this summer it is anticipated that development teams will be begin recruitment of construction professionals, experience tradespeople and skilled labourers in the near future.
Other members of the planning application team include EDAW, Arup, GVA Grimley, Cre8 Management, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Eversheds.
It is anticipated it will take between 10 and 15 years to complete once construction starts.
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