Property round-up: Cube sales squared off; Alliance checks in on time; and more

THE developer behind The Cube apartment block in Ancoats has said that all of the apartments in the block have now been sold.

Manchester Ship Canal Developments (MSCD) – a joint venture between the city council and Peel Land & Property – said that all 33 one- and two-bed apartments which were completed 12 months ago have now been sold off.

Since then, some 75 new houses and duplex apartments have been built on a neighbouring parcel of land at the Eastbank scheme known as The Mews.

Eastbank has received £4.3m in funding from Homes & Communities Agency and is one of only a few completed residential schemes around Manchester city centre this year.

Peel development director James Whittaker said: “We are delighted with the success of The Cube. There has been an impressive level of interest and enquiries since its launch. As a result, we are not surprised that the apartments are all sold less than 12 months after the first release.

MSCD said that sales at The Mews had also been strong, with the 30 houses onsite attracting interest from owner-occupiers.

Deborah McLaughlin, executive director North West for the HCA, said: “It’s really encouraging to see that this scheme has generated such interest and that the regeneration of East Manchester is continuing at such high pace.

“I’m pleased our support has allowed Manchester Ship Canal Developments to complete quality affordable new homes that are clearly appealing to local people.”

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PROPERTY Alliance Group’s Premier Inn hotel development in Manchester city centre is on track to hit its 2012 completion date.

The outline structure of the building’s 12th and final floor has just been completed ahead of schedule, in less than a year from when work commenced.

The site was bought by Property Alliance Group from the administrators of Issa Developments, which had planned to build a residential tower before the collapse of the property empire owned by its founder, Bashar Issa.

Property Alliance Group then gained permission to convert the building into a 193-bed Premier Inn hotel and then forward-sold the scheme to British Steel Pension Trust.

Contractor Russells Construction developed an off-site precast concrete panelling system, which has allowed one floor of the hotel to be completed every eight days, saving a total three months’ brickwork installation time and allowing internal works to commence ahead of schedule.

The building, which has been designed by Roger Stephenson Architects, features glazed-fronted public areas and a ground floor restaurant, with a sloping roof section on the easterly corner. Design, plans and demolition of the existing structure began in February and construction commenced in September.

Dominic Pozzoni, director at Property Alliance Group, said: “The extra time taken to plan the unique construction method has paid dividends already. We are progressing at a quicker rate than expected for our client and estimate completion to be right on schedule, if not ahead.

“Our experience working on these large-scale projects is key to our ability to deliver on time and within budget, whilst not compromising on quality.”

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CHEADLE Royal business park secured five deals in 2011, completing five sales and lettings equating  to 75,000 sq ft of space at the 70 acre, 688,000 sq ft park.

The deals included a 6,500 sq ft sale of an office building at the Oakfield scheme to virtual card payment Conferma and the letting of a 50,000 sq ft building to Blemain Group, which relocated from the city centre.

It also sold 7,500 sq ft to Advanced Childcare and and 2,070 sq ft to Robson Taylor. The firm has also released the latest phase in the development, Oakfield 3, which contains five self-contained buildings ranging in size from 6,500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft.

Wes Erlam, senior development surveyor at Muse Developments, said: “The sales and lettings of more than 75,000 sq ft of office space has given a further lift to the business park market, with a range of new occupiers moving to this regional business hub. 

“The deals have capped another successful year at Cheadle Royal Business Park, where we have built on 2009/10 during which time we completed the 8,000 sq ft deal to Clarke Nicklin Accountants and the 10,000 sq ft letting to The Mansion Group.”

Rob Yates, office agency director at the park’s joint agents, DTZ, said: “Cheadle Royal Business Park has continued to fare well compared to other schemes in the South Manchester. This is due to quality of the buildings available, the mature environment, on-site amenities, real value for money and excellent transport connectivity.

The park is already home to national and international companies, such as Umbro, Jacobs and DeVere. Joint letting agents are Lambert Smith Hampton.

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CONSTRUCTION company John Turner & Sons has started work on a new Booths Supermarket in Milnthorpe at the Parkland Lakeland Estate.

The contractor was appointed to build the new store by land owners Houghton-Parkhouse and it will be building the supermarket shell including a service yard, access road, car park, landscaping and footpath. The store’s façade will be constructed in stone with other materials locally sourced.

The £1.6m project will stretch over 93,520 sq ft of space with the supermarket totalling 17,233 sq ft. The supermarket shell will be ready for the fit out in June next year, with the store opening in the winter.

Milnthorpe will be Booths’ 29th store and a total of 65 jobs will be created when the supermarket opens.

Pam Houghton, director of Houghton-Parkhouse said: “It is great news to be starting on this project that will bring an economic boost to the village. Booths is a very well-respected brand and we are delighted to be working with them on delivering a new store in Milnthorpe.”

John Clarke, managing director of John Turner & Sons, said:  “Our business has grown on the basis of delivering projects of the highest standard and to be working for a high profile retailer such as Booths is an acknowledgement of our track record.”