The retail and leisure element in Manchester’s £42m Urbis Centre has been slashed amidst fears about saturation of the city centre market.
The 77,500 sq ft (7,200 sq m) National Lottery-funded project was to have housed more than 7,500 sq ft (700 sq m) of retail and leisure space along with a new Museum of the Modern City.
Projected rental income of £1m pa was intended to help fund the centre.
However, it is now understood that just 375 sq ft (35 sq m) of retail space will be retained.
The remaining space will be occupied by centre operators Halogen, who will operate restaurants and cafes on behalf of Manchester council.
A source close to the scheme said: “A marketing exercise revealed that the prospect of letting the space commercially was very discouraging.”
Unlet space at adjoining schemes such as Frogmore’s Triangle retail scheme and BAA/Henderson’s Printworks is blamed for the poor market response.
Some local critics are already comparing the centre with other ill-fated National Lottery funded ventures, such as Doncaster’s Earth Centre and Sheffield’s Museum of Popular Music.
The Urbis Centre will be open in June 2002. It is being developed by a Manchester council with funding from central government, the European Union and the Millennium Commission.
EGi News 04/02/02
