Abu Dhabi JV to take on Murrays’ Mills
MANCHESTER’S historic Murrays’ Mills – the world’s oldest surviving steam powered cotton mill complex – is one of three sites in Ancoats that has been acquired by the the new joint venture between the city council and Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners.
The 1798 mill buildings, which are based around a canal basin used to drop off and pick up goods, were acquired by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) 10 years ago when it bought all building in the area through a compulsory purchase order.
The site then underwent £10m of repairs from 2004-06 but a hotel and apartments plan by Edinburgh-based Inpartnership and the Burrell Company failed to materialise.
According to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which took control of the area following the demise of the NWDA, the council’s Manchester Life JV with Abu Dhabi United Group will also take on two neighbouring sites – the largely vacant Express Motors site off Blossom Street and the Stockbridge Airco plot which has a collection of buildings between Murray Street and Bengal Street.
Manchester Life is aiming to build 830 apartments at the Ancoats sites and at three other, as yet unidentified, plots in nearby New Islington. It is part of a wider plan to invest £1bn in more than 6,000 houses in east Manchester over the next 10 years. Most of the properties will be for rent.
As well as Manchester Life, the council has formed a partnership with the HCA called Manchester Place that will bring forward sites for investment to help hit a target of 55,000 new homes by 2027. According to an earlier council report it will identify “investment action areas”, to encourage landowners to bring forward developments, and use compulsory purchase powers “where justified”.
Under the terms of the JV, receipts from the sale of HCA assets will be reinvested in Manchester housing projects until 2022. The first action area is Ancoats and New Islington where officials say 3,000 homes, mainly apartments, can be delivered over the next five to 10 years.
