£250m Owens Park campus rebuild ‘back in play’

PLANS for a £250m rebuild of the University of Manchester’s Owens Park campus on Wilmslow Road are reported to be back on track.

The deal, which will see the construction of 1,122 student bedrooms, warden accommodation and a central catering unit, originally fell through when investor Mubadala Development Company ended its agreement in May, according to Place North West.

Much of the current campus in Fallowfield will be demolished and replaced with a new state-of-the-art student village.

Facilities will include upgraded sports facilities and better student support services.

Almost a year ago, planning was granted by Manchester City Council for the Owens Park masterplan, however in May the university announced it would not continue to work with Abu Dhabi firm Mubadala.

The university said it has opted to self-fund phase one of the scheme and has reset its overall development budget for the project to £245m, compared to £175m in late 2014.

The appointment of a design and build contractor will be under a pre-construction arrangement in early 2017, with a view to starting on site during summer 2017.

Owens Park is the main residential hub of the university.

The accommodation is now scheduled to complete by September 2019, a year after the previous scheduled finish date of September 2018.