Manchester city council has approved a strategic regeneration framework for Realty Estates’ 10-acre former BBC site on Oxford Road, despite objections from the developer.
At a meeting of the executive committee this morning, the council passed the SRF despite an objection from Realty, which had wanted a greater proportion of student housing and large retail space in an office-led scheme.
Realty objected that “the SRF is negative and contradictory to the National Planning Policy Framework and the Core Strategy in relation to student accommodation as they believe that there is clear evidence to support its inclusion”.
However, in a report published this week the council said its officers were not persuaded by the changes to student and large retail provision.
Instead, the council deemed that employment space was needed to accommodate anticipated growth in the creative, financial and professional sectors, as well as biomed and life sciences.
Realty acquired the 300,000 sq ft site for around £10m in 2011, when the BBC moved its facilities to Salford.
