Ask, Manchester council in EUR 980m city centre revamp

UK developer Ask Developments has teamed up with Manchester city council to rebrand the city's Central Spine at First Street and redevelop the entire 20-acre scheme at a cost of EUR 980 mln, the company announced at MIPIM.

The scheme will include the laying of a pedestrian street, plus five new public squares, and the city's first BREEAM Excellent building comprising 180,000 m² of office space as well as a new retail area and Europe’s largest vertical garden. Located on the southern edge of the city, First Street Manchester will include 1,500 homes and 35,000 m² of retail and leisure space.

Ask and Manchester city council said they want the development to serve as an example of sustainable, mixed-use communities. The first phase of the scheme, the 18,000 m² BT building, represents an initial investment of EUR 115 mln. 'Our vision is for a dramatic new quarter to extend the heart of this great global city from this historic railway viaduct to the Mancunian Way,' Ken Knott, Ask's chief executive, told the MIPIM audience.