Construction started on Friday 25th January 2013 for an Associated Property Investors (API) led £20 million retail and leisure development at 19–31 Manchester Piccadilly. With construction work expected to finish by December 2013, upwards of 100 jobs will be created in the run up to Christmas.The building is well known in the city as the site of the Woolworths fire in 1979, and was more recently an amusement arcade.
Funding for the development has just been secured through HSBC bank and it can now be announced that the occupiers of the scheme will be:
• Budget hotel chain Travelodge, operating 157 rooms and a 102 seat Bar Cafe. When opened, the hotel will create 32 jobs within the local community. All entry-level roles will be filled via Job Centre Plus. This will be Travelodge’s twelfth hotel in Manchester and the fifth in the city centre. This development will boost the Company’s rooms to 763 in the heart of the city.
• Morrisons M Local convenience store covering 12,000 sq ft and creating around 20 jobs. Morrisons’ convenience stores put more emphasis on fresh food than other convenience retailers with a focus on value and fresh product ranges – including produce, meat, fish and bakery products. The store may also include a hot food to go counters, takeaway coffee and a salad bar.
• Zizzi will be occupying 6,750 sq ft whilst Nandos is going to take 5,000 sq ft with over 50 jobs being created at the restaurant.
GMI Construction Group of Leeds is the appointed contractors, with Garnett Netherwood the scheme architects.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s Leeds and Manchester offices acted on behalf of API. Jenics represented Travelodge.
Chris Dalzell, Managing Director of API, said:
‘As owners of the building we are very pleased that after a long period of under use, we have been able to bring forward the refurbishment of this important and well known building in Piccadilly Gardens. The impressive tenant line up is testament to both the quality of the location and the strength of the Manchester economy’
Paul Harvey, Managing Director for Development at Travelodge Hotels, said:
“We are delighted to have secured this prime site in the heart of Manchester city centre. This development will be our fifth hotel in the centre of the City.
“Manchester has traded very well over the past five years, with a thriving leisure offering thanks to its strong retail offer, vibrant social scene, the Manchester Arena and the continued success of the city’s famous football clubs, City and United. When you also account for a strong business sector, boosted by the MediaCity UK development and arrival of the BBC at Salford Quays, the demand for good quality, value accommodation in Manchester city centre is growing.
“Our new Travelodge fronting Piccadilly Gardens is perfectly located for Manchester’s great shops, bars and restaurants and is only a couple of minutes’ walk from Manchester Piccadilly train station. With two great restaurants and the Morrisons’ supermarket on site, it will be a fantastic place for our customers to stay.“
Gordon Mowat, Group Strategy Director at Morrisons, said:
“We’re excited to be bringing another Morrisons M Local to Manchester. Our convenience stores make it easier for busy professionals to cook a meal from scratch or pick up fresh ingredients on the way home.”
