Manchester City Council sign First Street Development Agreement
Date: 18/12/2009
Source: SKV/Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council’s Executive has [today] approved the final development agreement between Ask Property Developments and Manchester City Council for the First Street project.
This gateway site is located on the southern edge of the city. Totalling 20 acres, First Street acts as a vital link between Manchester’s central business district and the Oxford Road Corridor.
Public sector investment will deliver the highest quality public realm, including the creation of the 160m long First Street - the first major new pedestrianised thoroughfare in the city for many decades, which will stretch from Whitworth Street to Hulme Street on the southern edge of the site.
The purpose of the boulevard is to bring workers, shoppers, students, diners and visitors alike through the scheme as they pass between the city centre and Oxford Road, and create a special environment that everyone can enjoy as a place to work and relax.
The acquisition of the remainder of Mackintosh Mills will open up key pedestrian linkages through the eastern part of the site, thus advancing the wider vision for First Street.
Number One First Street, the first major office building in the scheme, completed earlier this year, with Manchester City Council selecting it as the location for its temporary office requirement, to enable the refurbishment of the Town Hall Extension as part of a wider £165 million transformation investment programme which includes the Central Library and St Peter's Square.
Number One comprises approximately 180,000 sq ft Grade A office space with floorplates of 25,000 sq ft. The seven storey glass fronted building has also been awarded a post construction BREEAM ‘excellent’ accreditation, making it the first in the city centre to attain the ‘excellent’ accreditation for sustainability and environmental best practice.
Staff currently based in the Town Hall Extension will be based in Number One until 2013 while the building is extensively refurbished. When the extension is reopened it will include a Customer Service Centre enabling people to access all the council services they need in a single visit. This will be pioneered at Number One.
John Hughes, Director at Ask Developments said: “We’re delighted that the First Street development agreement has been approved. We have worked hard with the City Council to create the platform for this strategic site. This area has endured a lack of identity and purpose in recent years, which has resulted from its failure to integrate and connect in a physical and economic sense with the rest of the city centre and the Oxford Road Corridor. We are confident that First Street will now start to fulfil its potential and make its contribution to enhancing the city’s competitive position.”
Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources, said: “We’re excited about the temporary relocation to Number One First Street. It should be the ideal location to give residents and other customers a taste of the improved services they can expect in the transformed Town Hall Extension.”
Work on the public realm will start in December 2009, with completion in early May 2010.