£170m funding deal unlocks 639-home Old Trafford scheme

A 639-home development near the Old Trafford Emirates cricket ground has been unveiled by Glenbrook, Moorfield and Clarion Housing Group, after a £170m funding deal.

Glenbrook has signed two major funding agreements, totalling £170m, which will see the delivery of the scheme at Lumina Village, in Old Trafford.

Moorfield will fund the Build to Rent (BTR) element of the scheme, which will comprise 440 apartments and townhouses and have a GDV of £120m.

Clarion Housing Group has committed £49.1m to deliver 199 affordable homes, offering a mixture of shared ownership and social rent options across a range of apartment types and townhouses.

Homes England has supported the delivery of 103 of the affordable homes through a grant from its Affordable Homes Programme and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has supported the delivery of the wider scheme through a grant from its brownfield housing programme.

The residential offering forms the larger part of the wider Lumina Village mixed use development, which is a joint venture partnership between Trafford Council and Bruntwood.

After acquiring the site in 2019, the joint venture repurposed Valo, the former Kellogg’s HQ office building, to educational uses and it is now fully leased to UA92, Shockout and Microsoft.

This new residential development of 650,000 sq ft will see the creation of 639 homes in a single phase of construction over the next 32 months.

This will include 5.4 acres of public realm focused around a central village green, civic squares, boulevards and play streets, and ground floor retail units facing the cricket ground. The scheme will be pedestrian friendly with all parking contained within a two-storey residents’ car park on the site. This sustainable approach to place shaping will benefit existing Trafford residents as well as the new Lumina Village community.

Delivery has already commenced with Domis Construction appointed to build the 440-home BTR scheme and a large proportion of the public realm, with Caddick Construction delivering 199 homes and associated public spaces.

Ian Sherry, director at Glenbrook, said: “We have been working on this site for a long time with the Bruntwood Trafford JV and to achieve a funding commitment of this scale is testament to everyone’s commitment and stamina, particularly over the last 12 months.

“This will be our fourth BTR deal with Moorfield following the success of The Keel, Trilogy & Duet and our second scheme with Clarion following the successful completion of High Definition in Media City.”

He added: “The Old Trafford area of Greater Manchester is at the start of a huge transformation and is attracting new investment and people to the area. This funding and development will offer a mix of much needed housing types and tenures and is a significant step in unlocking the wider redevelopment of Trafford’s Civic Quarter.”

Charles Ferguson-Davie, chief investment officer, Moorfield Group, said: “Lumina Village is a fantastic asset in one of the UK’s most attractive BTR markets, and the next in our strong relationship with Glenbrook, whose expertise we value enormously.

“Our early BTR investments performed well and we are now excited to be getting back into the subsector, having been priced out for a number of years and having sold all of our projects between 2018 and 2022.

“We have delivered some of the UK’s best, market leading schemes – Duet being the highest ranked UK BTR investment at one point – and we look forward to this new investment now delivering the next stage in design and customer service that will make it fit for purpose for future demand.”

He added: “We think the residential sector continues to offer opportunity, driven by an acute supply and demand imbalance, and the opportunity to provide a far better offering in the market place.”

Richard Cook, group director of development at Clarion Housing Group, said: “We are excited to be delivering sustainable and modern homes for the Lumina Village scheme.

“The agreement with Homes England and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority reflects our commitment to providing affordable housing options in Greater Manchester. Clarion is dedicated to providing affordable homes that will contribute to Manchester’s diverse and inclusive community.”

Chris Roberts, chief development officer at Bruntwood, said: “Our joint venture with Trafford Council is helping to shape Trafford’s continued aspiration to create a vibrant and sustainably-focused borough. We’re excited to see Lumina Village reach another key milestone, which brings us a step closer to creating a variety of high quality, people-centric homes and spaces for Trafford’s residents to come together and thrive.”

Cllr Ged Cooney, Greater Manchester lead for housing, said: “Unlocking brownfield land for regeneration is essential to delivering the homes that Greater Manchester needs. Our Brownfield Housing Fund is doing exactly that, supporting developments like Lumina Village to create new green spaces, pedestrian-friendly streets, and good affordable homes in our city region.

“We’re excited to see Lumina Village take shape, as we continue to use our devolved powers and funding to prioritise brownfield land for development and deliver new homes across Greater Manchester.”

CBRE Manchester Investment Properties acted for Moorfield on the purchase.