Patrick Properties plans Edgeley Park redevelopment
PATRICK Properties, the property arm of double glazing entrepreneur Brian Kennedy’s empire, is hoping to submit a planning application to redevelop its Edgeley Park stadium by the end of the year.
The company’s managing director, Andrew Dickman, told TheBusinessDesk.com that the redevelopment of the Edgeley Park ground was now “at the top of our agenda from a development point of view”.
He did not wish to be drawn on the details of the plans, but said that the redeveloped stadium would need an improved corporate offer, better facilities for fans and players and, crucially, allow for more frequent use of the stadium either through more use for conferences as well banqueting for parties and other functions.
He said that any planned redevelopment would have to be “operationally and financially worthwhile”.
“We’ll try everything we can to find a solution that works for both clubs, the council and the fans,” he said.
He said that the firm had been holding high-level negotiations with Stockport Council over its plans, adding that the company was “grateful to the borough council both at office and political levels for the support they’ve given us” in its pre-planning guidance and support.
Patrick Properties has just relocated its headoffice from Wilmslow to Bow Chambers on Tib Lane in Manchester – a building which it bought in July for £2.35m, which contains 10,000 sq ft of offices and 5,000 sq ft of retail/leisure space that includes a Caffe Nero outlet, a Subway and the Leonis Latin Cellar restaurant.
“We paid cash for it and we’ve since refinanced it,” said Dickman. It is now in the process of redeveloping the office space and has three floors up for offer in the building.
It has also recently bought a 35,000 sq ft building at Victoria Place in Leeds city centre which currently houses Royal Bank of Scotland’s West Yorkshire customer service centre in a £6.75m deal.
The bank currently has seven and-a-half years to run on its lease, but could exercise a break clause after two and-a-half years. Dickman said that it would “be very happy” if RBS decided to renew the lease, but was not relying on it.
“It’s a prime quality product and the price was attractive enough for us to buy it,” he said.
Both buildings were bought in off-market deals from vendors who wished to remain confidential. The Bow Chambers building, particularly, was bought for significantly less than the previous owner paid for it a few years ago.
He argued that the firm was interested in picking up similar “prime quality assets in prime locations” which it can then invest in redeveloping and improving their value.
“We’re not heavily leveraged, we view the money we borrow as our own and we recognise that it needs to be paid back,” he said.
