Circle Square is an exciting multi-million pound, mixed-use neighbourhood, created on the site of the former BBC building on Oxford Road.
Upper Brook Street Life Sciences Development
The Upper Brook Street site runs along the eastern boundary of the Oxford Road Corridor area. It is a 4.3 hectares site located immediately south of ID Manchester. Part of the site falls within the Brunswick Housing Masterplan Private Finance Initiative (PFI) area, a £110 million housing scheme that is being delivered to transform the Brunswick estate. The Upper Brook Street site is located directly adjacent to an area of the University of Manchester estate (to the west) that is identified as being a cluster for activity and growth within the Science, Research and Innovation sectors. This area is home to National Graphene Institute and the Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD) and Sir Henry Royce Institute.
To the south of the site (0.5 mile) is Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which includes a cluster of health innovation assets, CityLabs campus and the former Elizabeth Gaskell Campus development site. The Upper Brook Street site therefore represents a significant opportunity to connect the Oxford Road Corridor into ID Manchester, Piccadilly and Mayfield to the north of ID Manchester, and East Manchester, completing a regeneration arc and opening up opportunities to local residents in Ardwick, Longsight and Rusholme, some of the most deprived communities in Greater Manchester.
The masterplan has the potential to provide significant benefits for the local area and the wider City Region, including job creation, social value improvements, long- term investment, and a desire to provide facilities and spaces that will genuinely benefit the local community.
The masterplan proposals are being brought forward jointly by Property Alliance Group, Moda Living, McLaren Property and Kadans Science Partner. The masterplan intends to transform the currently vacant underdeveloped site with over 2 acres of new public realm and green spaces, a new public square, as well as a series of high-quality new buildings providing for approximately 700,000sq. ft of life sciences accommodation, 1,800 purpose-built student accommodation beds, and 25,000sq. ft of active ground floor uses.
The Upper Brook Street site will deliver 5,800 new direct and indirect jobs, and total £138m GVA contribution to local economy through construction alone. An initial private investment of c.£450m is planned and the site will generate an additional £9.3m per annum in business rates.
Get the latest news from Oxford Road in your inbox
The School of Digital Arts (SODA) is a purpose-built, interdisciplinary school at Manchester Metropolitan University that offers an interdisciplinary approach to creative courses.
Base is in the process of a £21m, 91,000 sq ft redevelopment at Manchester Science Park and will offer workspace designed for companies working in high growth, frontier sectors of Industry 4.0.