Property round-up: Ordsall Travelodge tops out; Liverpool’s Neptune Theatre completes £1m facelift; and more
LPC Living’s £50m mixed-use Radclyffe Park scheme reaches two milestones this month as the seven-storey Travelodge hotel tops out and the 50,000 sq ft supermarket is handed over to Morrisons for fit-out work to begin.
Morrisons and Travelodge were chosen as anchor tenants in order for the scheme to appeal to both residents in Ordsall and those living and working in Salford Quays, the new home for the BBC, ITV and the University of Salford.
Some 25,000 sq ft of smaller retail units are also being built and it is is estimated that around 500 jobs will be created on the site once the entire development completes.
Russells Construction has just handed over the supermarket following an eight-month build programme and will now focus on developing the remaining retail space, 79 new homes and a 359-space car park.
Andrew Russell, managing director of Russells Construction, said: “This handover is an important milestone in the regeneration of Ordsall and we are looking forward to supporting the Morrisons team as they take over the building and ready the store for opening.
“I’m pleased with how smoothly the project has run considering what a busy development site this is. We have worked closely with an expert team – the architects, our valued supply chain, LPC Living and Morrisons – to ensure the timely delivery of this scheme.”
Tony O’Brien, UK development director at Travelodge Hotels, said: “MediaCityUK and the ongoing redevelopment of the Quays mean that our Trafford Road site is perfectly located to provide affordable accommodation for the many visitors that will be soon be coming to Salford.”
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Liverpool’s Neptune Theatre is to reopen as the Epstein theatre following a £1m refurbishment.
The Hanover Street venue has been brought up to 21st century standards and has been renamed in honour of former Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Liverpool City Council Leader, Councillor Joe Anderson, will join guests – including arts professionals and venue landlord David Ramsey – for the first official tour of the theatre this morning.
The event will also see the official unveiling of the new Epstein signage adorning the front of the building.
Acquired by Liverpool Corporation in 1967 to be ‘run by the people, for the people’, the 98-year-old, Grade II listed theatre closed its doors in 2005 as it failed to comply with safety regulations and was in need of major refurbishment.
Councillor Joe Anderson made the re-opening of the theatre one of his major priorities, and after ensuring the funding needed to carry out the refurbishment was ring-fenced, he agreed terms with landlord David Ramsey of Hanover Estate Management at the end of 2010 to allow for its redevelopment.
The £1 million investment in the venue consists of £750,000 funding from the city council and a further £250,000 from Hanover Estate Management.
Cllr Anderson said: “This marks an exciting new beginning for the theatre, ushering in a new chapter in its illustrious history. It is a venue with an extremely rich heritage, which has been an important landmark on our cultural scene for many, many years.
“I’m absolutely delighted that our dream to bring it back into use is now officially a reality.”
The refurbishment was carried out by Liverpool-based Nobles Construction.
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A MAJOR residential investment portfolio in Liverpool has been bought at auction for £900,000 – almost double the guide price of £500,000 plus.
The portfolio of 16 recently-built apartments at Baltic Square in Shaws Alley, close to the docks area, had been offered on the instructions of the LPA receivers.
The part-tenanted apartments currently generate annual income of £85,800. However, this could increase to over £100,000 when fully let – a potential return of over 11%.
Andrew Brown of auctioneer Eddisons said: “It is some time since we have seen a purchase of this scale.
“There was plenty of interest in this lot both prior to the sale and on the day, which contributed to the price it achieved.”
Meanwhile, a tenanted residential property in Wigan was sold for £200,000. The mid-terraced property on New Market Street is currently arranged as six fully-let, self-contained apartments generating rental income of £30,000 per annum – a return of 15%.
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MANCHESTER-based property consultancy Canning O’Neill has sold the last remaining unit at The Beeches office development at Beech Lane, Wilmslow.
Unit B, a 1,351 sq ft, three-storey office building, has been sold on behalf of developer Bluetree Estates to a private investor.
The building is occupied by marketing agency Atom Marketing, which has relocated from Altrincham.
This follows the sale of the 1,641 sq ft Unit A to Edenhouse Estates in June.
Conrad O’Neill, director of Canning O’Neill, said: “The Beeches provides small, high quality offices for sale in a town centre location. The lack of availability of such opportunities lead to strong interest and we are delighted that all the buildings are now sold and occupied, despite difficult market conditions.”
