Landsec fancies Peel’s slice of MediaCity

Landsec has confirmed it is in talks with Peel Land & Property about potentially investing more into MediaCity in Salford, Greater Manchester. The FTSE 100-listed REIT bought a majority stake in the scheme for £425.6m in 2021, with 50% acquired from Legal & General and 25% from Peel. Under the deal, Peel retained a 25% stake in the scheme, which had a gross asset value of £567.5m at the time, and its asset and development management responsibilities.  The 37-acre waterside destination is home to the BBC’s northern operations, ITV and Kellogg’s, as well as more than 250 creative and tech businesses, schools and universities. It is the UK’s biggest tech and media hub outside London, producing 50,000 hours of content every year. Phase one was completed more than 10 years ago and comprises 1.5m sq ft across 11 buildings, including workspace, studios, incubator labs, housing, leisure and retail. Last year, Salford City Council approved revised proposals to redevelop MediaCity and the Quays spanning 3,000 homes and 800,000 sq ft of commercial space.  A spokesperson for Landsec said: “Since acquiring a majority stake in MediaCity, we have been working closely with the team there to agree the regeneration framework which sets out our ambitious plans for MediaCity over the next decade. We are in discussions with them about potentially investing more into MediaCity. It is too early to say what this may look like.”