Allied London and Manchester City Council secure Quay Street ITV complex for £26.5m

A development partnership between Allied London and Manchester City Council has signed a deal to buy ITV’s 13.5 acre Quay Street complex in Manchester for £26.5m.

Manchester Quays Limited (MGL) intends to submit plans to redevelop the area into a mixed-use destination within the next two years. Planning permission will be applied for once the remaining ITV staff and Coronation Street Production team move to their new home at Media City next year.

Michael Ingall, chief executive at Allied London, said: “We have considered the future of the ITV estate on several occasions and our long standing relationship with ITV has enabled us to acquire what we believe to be an exceptional real estate opportunity.

“We have taken control of over 800,000 sq ft. of existing mixed use real estate with various options for future occupation. The estate extends to some 13.5 acres and has development potential of in excess of 3m sq ft., which we intend to bring forward in partnership with Manchester City Council.

“Our vision is to promote the creation of a completely new mixed-use quarter for Manchester City Centre, at the River Irwell, bounded by Quay Street and Liverpool Road, and produce a masterplan that integrates the established areas within the site with proposed new development. This area of the city is rich in heritage, history and character, and we intend to make sure this makes a valuable contribution to our thinking on design and development. We will seek to protect the heritage assets and ensure this whole area is developed in a holistic and sensitive way.

“Manchester has seen a number of high quality developments in the last cycle, which we will seek to match and exceed. At the heart of our plans is the intention to create a new sense of place and community.”

ITV’s property director, Peter Copley, said: “With the majority of ITV’s business successfully migrated to Media City and the new Coronation Street set nearing completion, we are delighted to have completed the sale to a development partnership with such a strong record of delivery.”

Coronation Street continues to film at the Quay Street site and will move to its new MediaCityUK set and production base at date to be agreed. Construction on the new 7.7 acre Coronation Street site at MediaCityUK is expected to continue until the end of 2013.

The parties will explore options for various temporary uses of the Quay Street site during the public consultation period.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We welcome this announcement about a key strategic site in the city and are pleased to be part of this partnership. We look forward to working with Allied and ITV to deliver comprehensive development which will contribute to our growth objectives for the city while respecting the important heritage aspects of the area.”

Claire Quinn from the Manchester office of law firm, Irwin Mitchell, led the team which advised ITV on the deal. MQ was advised by Vaqas Farooq at Shoosmiths.

Claire, a real estate partner at Irwin Mitchell in Manchester, said: “This is a significant real estate transaction for Manchester. The site not only houses what has been the iconic home of Coronation Street for the last 53 years, but the deal potentially also heralds the start of a major redevelopment project in the city centre. Allied London has a proven track record here in the city and it’s certainly encouraging to see the return of confidence for large scale regeneration projects.

“I am delighted to have been able to support our client, ITV, in this latest transaction and very pleased to have exchanged the deal within the agreed four week timetable.”

Vaqas Farooq, partner at Shoosmiths, said: “Everyone involved has worked very hard in such a short timeframe to achieve a great result. I am delighted that we are working with Allied London in helping to deliver a significant regeneration project for our City.”