Public consultation opens for Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0

MANCHESTER Science Partnerships and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) are inviting local residents and businesses to attend a public exhibition of their plans for a £60m expansion of Citylabs in Manchester.

The proposed two phase development of Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0, announced in July during the EuroScience Open Forum, would create additional economic growth in excess of £100m and bring more than 750 jobs to the city, stakeholders say.

Located on the corner of Oxford Road and Hathersage Road, opposite Whitworth Park, Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 are a new mixed-use development aimed at health and medical technology companies. The project comprises both new build and redevelopment of the Old Saint Mary’s Hospital.

The £25m Citylabs 2.0 development will comprise 90,000 sq ft of lab and office space. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction work will begin in autumn 2017, with completion expected in late 2018.

Citylabs 3.0 will span 130,000 sq ft and integrate the development of new buildings with the Old Saint Mary’s Hospital, an existing listed Victorian building. Construction is planned to start in summer 2018 and is due to be completed in 2020.

The £35m project includes the restoration of a currently unused former chapel on the site, which is ear-marked for a café/ dining area with the potential for meeting room facilities, as well as extensive external landscaping and the provision of new gardens for the enjoyment of Citylabs occupiers and other users of the hospital facilities.

The project is the first to be delivered by the Strategic Property Partnership between Manchester Science Partnerships, Bruntwood, and CMFT. Announced in March 2016, the partnership will support the delivery of clinical care, research and innovation, as well as the future development of CMFT’s estate.

Thomas Renn, managing director of Manchester Science Partnerships, one of the partners behind the scheme, said: “We are hugely excited to be advancing our plans for Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 and we look forward to hearing the feedback and observations from all interested parties today.

“Our investment in Citylabs1.0 has been a major success and it is now fully-occupied so it is strategically important for us to be investing in new world-class facilities, where innovation, collaboration and commercialisation come together in a unique environment connected to Manchester’s clinical campus and our universities.

“We showcased Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 at our recent trip to the AdvaMed conference and exhibition in the US, and have been really encouraged by the interest from potential occupiers we met there.” 

Send questions or requests for information to consultation@deloitte.co.uk by November 30. Once the application has been submitted, members of the public will have a further opportunity to submit formal comments to the local planning authority.

A planning application is due to be submitted to Manchester City Council in December.