Bruntwood’s Manchester Science Partnerships has announced £60m of new development plants at its science innovation campus Citylabs.
The development, a joint venture between MSP and the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will provide 205,000 sq ft of office, laboratory and collaboration space across Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0.
The investment follows on from the 95,000 sq ft Citylabs 1.0, which was speculatively developed during the recession and was fully let shortly after opening in September 2014.
It is the latest scheme to be unveiled for Corridor Manchester – the city’s innovation district clustered around Oxford Road where occupiers include the University of Manchester, MSP, CMFT and Manchester Metropolitan University.
The Citylabs buildings will be targeted at health and medical technology companies, including innovative firms working in digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, precision medicines and biomaterials.
Bruntwood chief executive Chris Oglesby said he was confident that uncertainty in the sector would be short-lived, despite concerns about billions of pounds of EU scientific research funding being at risk post-Brexit.
He said: “I think if there was inaction by the UK government for a lengthy period of time then it could [threaten the sector] but I don’t envisage that and I see it as very quickly becoming a big priority for the government.”
The Citylabs investment comes after Greater Manchester became the first English region to gain control of its NHS budget on 1 April.
This means the £6bn health and social care budget is now managed by councils and health groups with powers to invest locally in companies delivering innovative health research.
Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 is the first scheme under Bruntwood’s strategic property partnership with CMFT, announced in March, with the purpose of helping to ensure hospital buildings and facilities are developed in a flexible and modern way to facilitate early access to new diagnostics and treatment.
MSP is a public-private partnership of which Bruntwood is the major shareholder.
It operates 3m sq ft of office and laboratory space on its three main campuses – central Manchester, Citylabs 1.0 and Alderley Park. Shareholders also include the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, CMFT and Manchester, Cheshire East and Salford City councils.
The developments
Citylabs 2.0
GDV: £25m
Size: 90,000 sq ft of lab and office space.
Construction: Work to begin in spring 2017, subject to planning permission, with completion expected in summer 2018.
Anticipated rents: £25.50 persq ft
Citylabs 3.0
GDV: £35m
Size: At 112,000 sq ft, it will include both the development of 89,000 sq ft of new buildings and integration with Old St Mary’s Hospital, a listed Victorian building, comprising 24,000 sq ft.
Construction: Planned to start in summer 2018 and due for completion in 2020.
Project includes: Restoration of currently unused former chapel for a café/dining room with potential for meeting room facilities.
Anticipated rents: £27.50 persq ft
Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 have been designed to play a major role in positioning Corridor Manchester as one of the top five innovation districts in Europe by 2020. The district already generates around 20% of the city’s economic output, 60,000 jobs, and is occupied by 70,000 students.
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