Social impact developer CAPITAL&CENTRIC is set to redevelop the former Central Retail Park site in Rochdale into a thriving new community.
As featured on BBC2’s Manctopia: Billion Pound Property Boom, the brownfield site will be the first in the UK to deliver CAPITAL&CENTRIC’s new housing concept ‘Neighbourhood’, which is in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council and Rochdale Development Agency.
Neighbourhood Rochdale will include over 200 suburban homes for rent, including a mix of modern, spacious and low carbon homes. Designed by shedkm to be a sustainable exemplar, it will also include a linear park, running track, gym and community hub alongside community space such as café-bars and delis.
The site – which has been vacant for nearly a decade and was previously occupied by Wynsors, Focus and MFI – is a short walk from both the train station, which offers an easy commute into Manchester city centre, and Rochdale town centre.
The plans are part of the transformation of Rochdale town centre, which is in the middle of a £400m regeneration programme.
ADVERTISEMENT
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE9RiVRgVCk/
Councillor John Blundell – Cabinet member for Regeneration, Business, Skills and Employment at Rochdale Borough Council, board member at the Rochdale Development Agency, and chair of the Rochdale Stations Alliance – said: “With millions already invested into Rochdale town centre, we’ve set the bar very high in terms of want to achieve here and this type of high quality housing is the perfect fit.
“To see the first large scheme come forward from Rochdale’s Rail Corridor strategy is a major milestone and shows the commitment to the strategy.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The work we’re doing to create a high quality retail and leisure offer and a reimagined public realm, makes Rochdale a really attractive place to live and I know that these will be the first of many new homes to be built in Rochdale.”
Adam Higgins – co-founder of CAPITAL&CENTRIC – said: “Many Greater Manchester towns have been hit hard by the declining high street but there’s a huge opportunity for places like Rochdale to reinvent themselves with town centre living. The council have a really ambitious vision to transform the town centre and we’re working with them to create an aspirational community with super energy efficient homes, game changing architecture and all the amenities that will attract people to town centre living.”
Designed to breathe life back into struggling town centres, the Neighbourhood concept could be rolled out by CAPITAL&CENTRIC across the UK.
ADVERTISEMENT
It aims to reinvent suburban living by designing homes and communities that suit how people live today.
Using modern methods of construction and with open-plan, design-led homes that maximise the use of space, Neighbourhood is a challenge to generic, out-dated housing types that focuses on curating mixed communities for people of all ages.
It goes beyond thinking just about housing, and includes workspaces, community hubs and amenities.
Adam Higgins continued: “Neighbourhood is our way of bridging the gap between urban and suburban living. An antidote to poor quality, out-dated and uninspiring housing types, it recognises that people want to live in communities not just homes, so in Rochdale, we’re planning plenty of green space, a community hub and café-bar.
With easy links into Manchester and a proper mix of homes, we see it appealing just as much to young professionals as downsizers ands it’ll also be pretty unique in that it’s suburban homes but all of them will be for rent.”
ADVERTISEMENT
___
A planning application for Neighbourhood Rochdale is expected early next year.
It will be built by leading construction company Willmott Dixon – who recently completed the £80 million retail and leisure development nearby at Rochdale Riverside – and the site investigation works have started on site this week.
You can find more information via the CAPITAL&CENTRIC website here.
Property
Inside Dakota, the luxurious new hotel at Manchester Airport
Daisy Jackson
There’s a new hotel at Manchester Airport, and this one is all about luxury.
If the Dakota name sounds familiar, it’ll probably be from its city centre hotel, which has become a favourite with A-list celebrities and discerning travellers alike.
Now, the luxury hotel brand has opened its second Manchester location, this time just moments from the airport.
Designed to be ‘the destination before the destination’, Dakota Manchester Airport is aiming to redefine what an airport hotel can be.
The £54 million development features 154 elegant bedrooms and suites, all finished with the brand’s signature dark, sophisticated interiors and premium design details.
Just like its city centre counterpart, guests can expect a stylish bar and restaurant at the heart of the hotel. The Grill serves premium steaks, indulgent sides and an extensive wine list in an art deco-inspired setting complete with leather booths and a striking central bar.
And just like in town, there are plenty of luxury touches and details at Dakota Manchester Airport for guests to take advantage of.
The beautiful bar area at Dakota Manchester AirportThe Grill restaurantThe Grill restaurantA dedicated chauffere service to take you to your terminalAn example of the bedrooms at Dakota Manchester Airport
That includes the UK’s only hotel-operated valet parking service at an airport hotel, with the Dakota team looking after your car while you’re away.
There’s also a chauffeur service running 24 hours a day to take guests directly to their terminal, as well as private dining rooms, a cigar terrace and humidor, making it feel more like a luxury city hotel than somewhere to stay before an early flight.
Matt Townley, Group Operations Director, said: “I’m over the moon to see the doors of Dakota Manchester Airport finally open after all the hard work, dedication and passion the team has put into bringing it to life.
“We wanted to create something that goes beyond the traditional airport hotel – a place where guests can relax, unwind and enjoy exceptional hospitality before or after their journey. We’re looking forward to welcoming people from around the world and giving them the experience Dakota is known for.”
Location for new Manchester United stadium announced after club secures land for the build
Danny Jones
The location for Manchester United’s brand-new stadium has been officially revealed just over a fortnight on from the football club securing the land after more than a year of disputes.
Man United’s ‘New Trafford’ is set to be a state-of-the-art sporting ground with a roughly 100,000-seater capacity, not only becoming the largest in the UK but rivalling all other industry-leading arenas around the world.
While there’s been plenty of speculation about funding for the redevelopment, the proposed designs, and the aforementioned plot for the massive project, serious forward momentum can finally begin now that the latter has been resolved.
That being said, the INEOS ownership group, board of executives and partnered Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) have now confirmed where exactly the site for Old Trafford 2.0 will be situated, not to mention some new CGIs.
Put in the simplest terms, the work will be centred around the Wharfside area, with the native council and Freightliner both having, at long last, greenlit the plans in principle.
The Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation (OTRMDC) and dedicated Taskforce – on which Mayor and seemingly soon-to-be Prime Minister Andy Burnham has served since its inception – are set to create a fresh ‘Stadium District’ across the 150 hectares of space in Stretford.
Revolving not only around the current Metrolink tram stop and other accessible Bee Network routes, but sitting approximately just 350 metres North of the existing ‘Theatre of Dreams’, the blueprints go far beyond just creating newer and bigger stands that are easily reachable.
As per an official MUFC statement, “the vision is for a diverse neighbourhood creating 48,000 local jobs and 15,000 new homes, with the new stadium as the catalyst. Together, the mixed-use developments across 150 hectares have the potential to offer a £7.3bn-per-annum boost to the UK economy.”
Promising to maintain key aspects of nearby heritage, traditions and matchday rituals, be a walk from Pomona to a favourite food truck, or supporters making their way down the Quays and the River Irwell, they’ve even put together a video of what they hope this next chapter for Trafford will look like.
Safe to say, the GMCA, United and everyone involved have pretty ambitious ideas when it comes to a fresh era for the borough and the surrounding section of Stretford and bordering Salford.
Local Council Leader Tom Ross, Leader of Trafford Council, said of this most recent update: “We are delighted to introduce the masterplan which starts a long journey to piece together what could happen where, to bring this world-class cultural and sporting destination to life.
“We want to create a great place to be, not just on matchdays but every day – and we’re looking for as many residents and businesses as possible to help us to shape this vision, through our forthcoming consultation process.
“Wharfside will become a network of attractive neighbourhoods in which to live, work, wander, explore, relax with family, enjoy nature and wildlife, meet friends, eat out, have a drink, shop and be entertained.”
He goes on to add that besides the obvious additions to the matchday experience, this will effectively become the city region’s latest neighbourhood, delivering new parks and waterside spaces, housing including affordable options, and even new health and educational facilities.
Twinned with the obvious transport links and proximity to other key parts of Greater Manchester, this could be one of the biggest overhauls the North West has seen in decades; you can see more down below. What do you make of it all?
Our proposed new home will sit at the heart of a new stadium district ❤️🏟️
Emily Sergeant -
10th September 2020 
