Siemens pushes ahead with ‘world class’ plan for Didsbury
ENGINEERING group Siemens is pushing ahead with its proposal to turn its Manchester headquarters site into a “world class sustainable technology and healthcare” business park.
It has spent the summer consulting with nearby residents and tweaking plans to add housing, a private hospital and three office blocks.
A masterplan for the site in Didsbury says the proposals have the potential to deliver up to 1,800 new jobs on top of the 930 already employed.
The group is now working with Manchester City Council, which holds some restrictive covenants on the site, on how to bring the scheme forward.
It involves the refurbishment of the existing Sir William Siemens House, retaining the renewable energy centre, adding a 90-room private hospital, 90 houses on six acres, and building three office blocks totalling 140,000 sq ft. The hospital will be operated by Spire which will move from its existing Manchester base in Whalley Range.
The Siemens business on Princess Road has a £1.5bn turnover, employs 930 people and is a major engineering and technology centre specialising in offshore windfarms and electric vehicles. The German group drew up plans three years ago based around a Regional Growth Fund grant for a “sustainable technology hub”. It chose not to proceed until it had carried out a review of all its sites.
In the masterplan chief executive Juergen Maier said: “Over the last 18 months we have undertaken a comprehensive review of our UK property strategy and the future role of our assets and the company has concluded that the Princess Road Campus, anchored by Siemens, provides a unique opportunity to develop a world class sustainable technology and healthcare focused business park which can leverage its proximity to a wider cluster of related businesses, academic institutions and hospitals situated within South Manchester.”
The first phase would be the new hospital which will open in early 2017, subject to planning permission. The masterplan has been drawn up by architect Stephen George and Partners and will be discussed as a meeting of the council’s executive next week.
