Granada site to be a ‘modern village’
THE former Granada television site in Manchester will be at the vanguard of a second push for city centre living.
Mike Ingall, chief executive of developer Allied London who led the acquisition of 13-acre site in September, told an audience last night that the newly-named St John’s Quarter would be a “modern village” that would contribute to a much larger city centre population, which stands at just 19,000 now.
He said it would be an opportunity to, “get back what the city had at the start of the 20th century”.
Mr Ingall was speaking at a consultation event at the former ITV studios which continues this weekend. He said Allied London wanted to hear ideas for the site from all interested parties, but admitted he was focusing on residential development.
He said: “We’re inviting all interested parties to draw their own masterplan, to tell us the issues, tell us what you would like to see. There’ll be a whole series of formal consultations. What we want to do is engage and make this an evolutionary process. Our views our residential-led. We do think that in the next cycle of this city there’s a fantastic opportunity to get back what the city had at the start of the 20th century.
“If you go back to 1900 this city was the ninth largest populated city in the world, it’s probably now between 700th and 800th. There are only 19,000 people living in the city and that’s about the size of Ely.
“Manchester’s a big city but very few people are living here and that makes it difficult to sustain. But the city has got fantastic infrastructure and what you’re going to see is a series of potential new villages. What we want to do is integrate into what’s here and create a modern village.”
Allied London acquired the site for £26.5m through a joint venture with the city council called Manchester Quays Ltd when ITV left for new facilities at Salford Quays. Before it is redeveloped the area will have a series of temporary uses and is being positioned as a media and arts quarter that could be home to pop-up shops, bars and live music. A Coronation Street tourist attraction is expected to open in April.
Mr Ingall added: “This site has been closed to the public for decades. It’s an important site in the evolution of this city and offers a great opportunity. Our ambition is big, we’re not an average ‘me too’ developer. In the last 15 years I don’t think we’ve developed a building that hasn’t won an award or a place that hasn’t been highly successful. The evidence of that is over in Spinningfields. So we commit to a high level of design and consult, and try and get things right.”
