Dev Secs progresses Manchester scheme
DEVELOPMENT Securities has said revealed plans to begin working on an overhaul of the 120-bed Ladybarn House student accommodation block in Fallowfield.
The company said that the block, which it bought for £6.4m from the University of Manchester last September, will begin a “planned rolling refurbishment” of the building in the second quarter of the year with a view to eventually increasing the amount of rent yielded from the scheme from its current level of 6.3% up to 8.2% during the next academic year.
The block’s current occupancy rate is 95%.
The developer also said that it had identified a “medium-term opportunity for extensive refurbishment or redevelopment” of the Chorlton Cross shopping centre in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which it bought from Citybranch for £9m in November.
The company also said it had received “strong” pre-letting interest on the Hale Barns shopping centre from several national retailers. The company is is planning a £30m redevelopment of the centre, which will be anchored by a 30,000 sq ft Booths supermarket.
“We anticipate commencement on site by the middle of this year,” it added.
Chief executive Michael Marx said that since completing a £100m equity raising exercise in August 2009, it had focused its attention on London districts, the south of England and on Manchester.
“We intend to continue to focus on the more affluent districts of the UK economy,” he said.
