Former Manchester United stars Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville have appointed agents to find a £140m funding partner for their landmark project on Manchester’s Bootle Street.
Colliers International will shortly begin marketing the opportunity on a flexible basis, with a combination of bank finance and an equity stake the most likely outcome.
The move – which comes before the project has secured detailed planning consent – is timed to capitalise on a dearth of marketable office space in Manchester and to ensure speedy development of the flagship site.
Rapid progress was a key demand of the council, which fears the vacant land could blight the area after former occupier Greater Manchester Police moved out of the block.
A detailed planning application is expected to be submitted before the end of the year, after the planning framework has been finalised.
A funding deal would allow work to start on site as early as spring 2016.
A source said: “With no stock on the market, investors are champing at the bit to find investments of scale in Manchester. As a trophy project, plenty of the London funds are keen to sink their teeth into Bootle Street.”
The Jackson’s Row Development Company – owned by Giggs, Neville and Burnley FC director Brendan Flood – has received council backing to transform four sites into a circa 500,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme including offices, leisure space and a luxury hotel.
The shareholders are expected to fund pre-development activities themselves.
The project plans to redevelop the former Bootle Street Police Station (pictured above), the adjoining United Reform synagogue, the Abercrombie pub and a parcel of open land on Jackson’s Row.
The council has teamed up with the police commissioner to buy the police station for £2m, with the long lease taken by JRDC.
Zerum Consult is development adviser.
