Member Article

Osborne helps reveal Airport City plans

George Osborne has unveiled plans for the development of the UK’s first ‘Airport City,’ at Manchester Airport.

The £659m project hopes to transform Manchester Airport from a transport hub into an international business destination in its own right.

Following the Government’s designation of the site as an Enterprise Zone last March, the Airport City will build on the global connectivity offered by the existing airport.

Five-million square feet of business premises will be built to attract international companies that would not previously have located in the region, or even in the UK.

Masterplans for the project aim to have the development fully operational from April 2012, and it is estimated that the wider Manchester Enterprise Zone will create up to 20,000 new jobs over the next 15-years.

The Enterprise Zone will also include a MediPark development at University Hospital South Manchester and Wythenshawe town centre, with sites linked by a new Metrolink tramline.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Airport City will fill the gap in the market that currently exists for a high quality and well-connected environment for businesses that need access to a major British city and to a global marketplace.

“Airport City will provide an innovative and complementary offer to Greater Manchester’s existing assets, rather than competing against them, adding new capacity to the city’s existing dynamic economy.

“Manchester is well placed with an international offer based on established academic research and technology, innovative businesses, communications and transport infrastructure.”

The project will represent two core zones: one focusing on hotel, office, retail and advanced manufacturing uses, while the other will focus on freight and logistics.

Sustainability and connectivity are key to the development, with the design allowing every part of the northern zone to be within an eight-minute walk of transport connections.

Park areas and event space will compliment retail outlets, coffee houses, bars and restaurants.

Contemporary architectural approaches will be employed in the creation of Airport City’s commercial property, with all buildings constructed to BREEAM and LEED environmental standards.

Manchester Airports Group is gearing up to deliver the first stage of the project, which will cover infrastructure and utility provision ahead of developing the plots.

An ‘Expression of Interest Document’ detailing the Airport City opportunity will be officially released through an open competitive process in February.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “Airport City is a concept we have been developing for a number of years and we are now at a critical stage in the project’s life as we bring it to the market and commence phase one.

“We were enthused by the Government’s recognition of Airport City’s potential when it was named as the focal point of their new Enterprise Zone, as we feel that this project presents a generational opportunity not only for the wider region, but nationally in order to attract new investment to the UK during the economic downturn.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .