Property briefs: Harbur; Great Places; Styles & Wood
WORK has started on a new multi-million-pound scheme which will boost the supply of student accommodation in Preston.
Manchester-based Harbur Construction is building the £13m project, which will accommodate 226 students in 44 five-bedroom flats, while an additional 20 studio apartments will be built in a separate annexe to provide quieter living quarters for more mature students.
Richard Hutchinson, managing director at Harbur Construction, said: “The Fylde Road development is Harbur’s first scheme in the student accommodation sector, but we already have an array of other student development opportunities in the pipeline, so it’s a time of real expansion and growth for Harbur Construction.
“The development is located close to the main university campus and is being built using high quality materials so the properties will be robust enough for student living.”
Called new Jubilee Court, the scheme is being built on Fylde Road at the former site of the Jubilee Trading Estate.
It is located close to University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) campus facilities, including the university library and its planned new student services building, which is part of UCLan’s £200m regeneration programme.
Harbur Construction is building the scheme on behalf of private housing developer Alpha Homes. The new properties will be made available for market rent.
Derek Kewley, director at Alpha Homes, said: “There is a real lack of supply of high quality student accommodation in Preston, and with the number of people choosing to study in the city surging year on year, the new scheme will really help plug this gap.”
The new scheme is expected to be completed in July 2016.
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BARABA Keeley MP, for Worsley and Eccles South, has officially opened a new housing scheme in Salford.
Cube Great Places, the Didsbury-based developer, is offering 12 new three and four bedroom homes for sale at Brook Gardens in Boothstown.
Buyers have the option to purchase houses through Help to Buy, the government’s equity loan scheme.
Cube Great Places appointed Bridgestone to construct the development and have chosen Plumlife to handle sales.
Barbara Keeley MP, said: “It is a pleasure to be invited to officially open Brook Gardens. With the demand for affordable housing in Salford continuing to increase, I hope that this development will benefit local families and help first time buyers get onto the property ladder.”
Matt Harrison, chief executive of Great Places Housing Group, said: “With three homes already being reserved off plan, Brook Gardens, is already proving popular. Set within a green suburb, close to Worsley, this aspirational area offers families great local amenities including good local schools, at an affordable price.”
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ARTS venue The Lowry at Salford Quays has revealed its new restaurant, Pier Eight, following the completion of a £2.4m refurbishment programme by integrated property services firm Styles&Wood.
The works, which have created a total of 800 sq m of dining and event space at the landmark theatre complex, incorporate 120 sq m of extended space in the style of two shipping containers, providing views over the Manchester Ship Canal. The complete extension includes a terrace area, an event space with a second private terrace, as well as the Pier Eight restaurant and bar with an extended kitchen.
Paul Lonsdale, operations director at south Manchester-based Styles&Wood, said: “Our team has a great deal of experience working across the leisure and hospitality sectors, and we have worked closely with The Lowry’s management team throughout the project to ensure a smooth completion.
“With more than 800,000 visitors every year there is no doubt that the new restaurant and event space will only add to The Lowry’s appeal and act as a further draw to those visiting Salford Quays.”
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WORK has started on restoring and repairing a 19th Century building as part of the £3.2n Prescot Townscape Heritage Initiative).
Number 19 Eccleston Street – occupied by Andrew Louis Estate Agents – is to be repaired from top to bottom with its Victorian shop front restored and reinstated.
Heloise Wood, of Atelier MB Architects who is overseeing the project said: “We found a small surviving section of the Victorian shop front that had been boarded over. We have used this as a guide to restoring the rest of the shop front in a traditional way.”
Prescot was once one of England’s main watch-making towns. For a large part of the 19th century the building was the home of Joseph Preston and Sons, watch movement and chronometer makers.
The work at 19 Eccleston Street will be immediately followed by repair and restoration schemes at 54 Eccleston Street (Help the Aged) and 56 Eccleston Street (Max Speilman) in the New Year. Work is also scheduled for buildings on Leyland Street.
The Prescot Townscape Heritage Initiative is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has contributed a grant of £1.85m.
