Boddingtons Brewery site sale paves way for £195m scheme

Salboy has acquired the former site of the Boddingtons Brewery, a renowned 52,700 sq ft site on the northern edge of central Manchester, kickstarting long-awaited regeneration plans.

With a £195m GDV, the mixed-use scheme will split across five buildings, including a 26-storey tower, all of which will comprise 556 homes for sale and rent, 31,000 sq ft of commercial and retail space, and residents’ amenities that include rooftop terraces and landscaped gardens.

The development, which will be named in due course, forms a major part of Manchester City council’s long-planned, residential-led regeneration of the site that was home to the Boddingtons Brewery until 2005. The council first published its strategic regeneration framework of the site in 2015.

It is located adjacent to the site of Manchester College’s new £100m city centre campus, and in short walking distance of the city’s Northern Quarter.

Simon Ismail, co-founder and managing director of Salboy, said: “We are delighted to be the new owners of the Boddingtons site – an ideal location for urgently needed regeneration thanks to its close proximity to city centre leisure, business, higher education and transport links. The future of this site has been the subject of local speculation for too long and we are excited to mobilise construction as soon as early 2023 to bring more sought-after homes to people who want to work, live and study in Manchester.”

The scheme will be built by Salboy’s construction partner DOMIS with work due to start on site early 2023.

The old brewery site, on the border of Strangeways and the city centre, has been a major regeneration priority for the council.

However, its progress was hampered after developer Prosperity Capital Partners, which was behind plans for a £175m housing scheme on the site, went bust last June.

The developer secured planning permission from the city council for what was going to be called Old Brewery Gardens in 2018.