MMU to Sell-Off Several Campus Sites

Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is creating opportunities in the Manchester property sector following its decision to sell off some five campus sites throughout the city.

The university has around 35,000 students, many of who are housed at the seven or so campus sites owned by MMU. Its administrators, however, have decided to concentrate its first-year and research students on just two sites, in the city centre and the town of Alsager in Cheshire. The central Manchester property boasts new lecture halls, classrooms and offices on its new £350 million Birley Fields campus in Hulme – right next to its existing Oxford Road buildings – while

As a result, MMU is able to sell its surplus sites on the Manchester property market, with properties up for grabs including the Aytoun Street campus in Manchester city centre, the former teacher training site in Didsbury, the Elizabeth Gaskell and Hollings sites in Fallowfield and much of the Alsager site.

The property sell-off will take place peace-meal, as sites are only due to go up for sale when the buildings on them become vacant.

Man U Seeks to Expand Manchester Property Portfolio

International footballing juggernaut Manchester United could soon be moving more squarely into the Manchester property scene, if reports out this week are anything to go by.

The club is apparently considering buying properties on the Trafford Park industrial estate, which is close to the team's iconic ground.

The Manchester property portfolio that Man U is sniffing around at the moment belongs to industrial property concern Segro, which has recently put some £1.6 billion of its assets on the market.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that the football club is looking at obtaining any number of the dozen properties up for sale in the Trafford Park area. It has previously bought three of the sites on the industrial estate, in October last year, but remains tight-lipped about its specific plans for the Manchester property buys, with a spokesman merely saying that “if land becomes available in the vicinity we are always interested."

Manchester Property Movers and Shakers Attend MIPIM 2012 in Cannes

Hundreds of Manchester property professionals flew to the south of France at the start of this month for this year's MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels d'Immobilier) property convention.

Described as the "market for international property trade", the convention in Cannes aimed to showcase property development, conferences and investment opportunities, while giving plenty of opportunities for networking over the four-day period.

A group of some 46 business organisations involved in Manchester property took a special chartered flight from Manchester Airport, organised by umbrella organisation MIPIM Partnership, led by Marketing Manchester and supported by the Manchester City Council.

Based at the convention's “Manchester Stand”, their aim was to use their time to highlight Manchester's key regeneration schemes and discuss issues affecting the city’s future prosperity in front of a global audience.

Marketing Manchester chief executive Andrew Stokes told the Manchester Evening News: “MIPIM provides an opportunity for the Partnership to share with the wider development and investment world the emerging plans for the city and the contribution they will make to lead the region through recovery.”

Manchester Property Boom on Back of ‘Airport City’?

A massive revitalisation of the Wythenshawe area is helping to fuel a miniature Manchester property boom, reports this week revealed.

A £650 million development around Manchester Airport, known as Airport City, is taking place, following a government announcement at the start of the year that the area was now an “enterprise zone” with fast-track planning and financial incentives to attract Manchester property developers.

The scheme plans to create a new urban centre for the Manchester area, containing a combination of offices, retail and leisure facilities and hotels – as well as a second zone concentrating on freight and logistics close to the airport's present cargo zone off junction six of the M56.

The Metrolink network is being extended to the airport and a new tram stop is being build on Shadowmoss Road, slated to open in 2016.

Manchester City Council believes that the development will create thousands of new jobs, revitalise the local economy and improve transport links. Furthermore, it will act as a filip for the Manchester property scene in the area, with higher property values for people already living in the Wythenshawe area and new builds acting as a sound future investment.

Manchester’s Architectural Heritage – the Video Tour

Take a trip through the fascinating history of the Manchester property scene with knowledgeable city tour guide Ed Glinert.

Ed has been taking groups around Manchester for years, and knows the city’s most buildings literally inside out.

In this video, he uses the examples of famous Manchester property landmarks such as the Beetham Tower, Lee House, Manchester Town Hall, the Radisson Edwardian Hotel and the Friends Meeting House to illustrate how the city has found its architectural inspiration not only from its own history and development, but also from various other sources around the globe. Enjoy the tour!