Oldham Council has chosen to support Manchester at MIPIM in 2018 as its town centre masterplan redevelopment plans are set to reach a key milestone later this month.
Oldham Council has chosen to support Manchester at MIPIM in 2018 as its town centre masterplan redevelopment plans are set to reach a key milestone later this month.
Speaking on stand at 16:30 today (Wednesday March 14th 2018) in the Manchester Pavilion, Oldham Council’s Director of Economy and Skills, Tom Stannard, is set to announce that plans confirming Oldham Council’s town centre masterplan will take a step closer when they are put before a Cabinet meeting on Monday 26th March.
The Council is seeking to garner interest from potential investment and development partners in the upcoming procurement process. The plans, which are expected to be approved by Cabinet, would provide the green-light to procure a development partner to work with them on this ambitious 21 acre / 8.4 hectare project to transform Oldham town centre over a ten to fifteen year delivery period.
The Council initially announced outline plans for the masterplan covering 8.4 hectares of Oldham town centre last year and since then they have undertaken a public consultation and listened to feedback to refine the plans further, as well as working closely with Cushman & Wakefield to finalise the scheme based on anticipated market requirements and conditions.
Following approval, it is projected that an OJEU notice will be triggered in June 2018 with the selection of a preferred partner in autumn 2019 following a competitive dialogue process. Start on site is expected to commence immediately upon selection of a preferred partner in late 2019.
The masterplan centres on 8.4 hectares 95% of which is publicly-owned land and where many sites are under utilised or have buildings coming to the end of their economic life including including Tommyfield Market, the civic centre, police station, the former sports centre, magistrates’ court, and the current Oldham Coliseum theatre.
Plans include 900 residential units, new retail/leisure, including a new market (7,203 sq m), a 120 bed hotel, a new civic hub (22,400 sq m), new and refurbished offices (14,351 sq m) and a 600 space multi-storey car park.
The benefits of the masterplan will be the building of new homes, new/refurbished employment space and economic activity worth an estimated extra £50 million each year to Oldham’s economy, as well as hundreds of new jobs.
Oldham Council is seeking to engage a 50/50 joint venture partner on a profit share basis, and is open to considering other structures and funding options. The Council would be prepared to make land, capital and lease covenant commitments to aid delivery of the overall development.
Advisors to Oldham Council are Cushman & Wakefield (property), Eversheds Sutherland (legal), KPMG (financial) and the masterplan was created by Leach Rhodes Walker (architects).