Deal struck for £35m Altrincham health and wellbeing centre
A £35m deal has been struck for the development of South Trafford Health and Wellbeing Centre in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.
Agreement has been reached between North West property and investment company Citybranch and Canada Life for the medical hub which will be fully let to NHS Property Services on a 30-year income strip lease structure.
This allows NHSPS to acquire the freehold interest at the end of the lease term for £1.
The bespoke facility in Altrincham town centre will include a number of GP practices, a pharmacy and café, as well as an innovative health and wellbeing care co-ordination centre, which is firmly in line with the preventative care vision of NHS England.
The building will also house a new state-of-the-art library for Trafford Council.
The forward-funding agreement will allow demolition and construction to commence immediately. The scheme is due for completion in spring 2018.
Adam Gross, director at Citybranch, said: “This is an entirely new approach to health and social care delivery that enables the co-location of services and creates an exemplar template for other public bodies to follow.
“It also allows the NHS to dispose of assets that are no longer fit-for-purpose and enter into highly-favourable arrangements without the need to raise any capital expenditure. The income strip lease will give the tenant complete control over the management, running and future ownership of the building – a big step forward from the PFI model traditionally used by the NHS.”
Christopher Bathurst, partner at property investment firm Christopher Dee, which advised the developer, said: “The income strip model is proving a successful structure to facilitate large-scale public and private sector projects, where development risk remains with the private sector which is rewarded with long-term secure income flows”.
Citybranch was also advised by Addleshaw Goddard solicitors. Canada Life was advised by CBRE and NHS Property Services advised by Cushman & Wakefield.
