The Co-operative group has signed an £800m joint venture deal with Hermes Real Estate for the redevelopment of 20 acres in the heart of Manchester. Last June the Co-op abandoned talks with Delancey and Landid after failing to “agree priorities” on the same project.
To be built under the group’s ongoing NOMA scheme, the fifty-fifty venture with Hermes will see the land adjacent to the city’s Victoria Station transformed into Grade A office space and retail units. The partnership announcement was due to be made last month but was postponed because of the sudden departure of Co-op chief executive Euan Sutherland.
The NOMA initiative — which gets its name from the first two letters of “North” and “Manchester” — is focused on revitalising the northern area of Manchester city centre which has, until now, missed out on other redevelopment schemes. The Co-operative Group has been based in the Manchester area since its inception in 1843 and hopes the 10-year project will create four-million square feet of office, retail, leisure and residential space and attract vital new businesses to the city.
David Pringle is NOMA’s director. “This latest joint venture represents a great opportunity to bring together two like-minded businesses that have a commitment to responsible, sustainable property development,” he explained. “Together the Co-op and Hermes Real Estate have a shared belief in what NOMA can deliver and we plan to create a new neighbourhood, designed to meet the needs and aspirations of modern businesses with a real community at its heart.”
Speaking on behalf of Hermes, chief executive Chris Taylor said the NOMA project fell squarely within his company’s sustainable development philosophy. “We are delighted to enter into this strategic land partnership with the Co-operative Group,” he said. “This is consistent with our UK strategy of investing in commanding sites within major urban areas that combine the benefits of improved infrastructure, regeneration, enhanced public realm, proximity to major retail and leisure facilities and which, ultimately, provide a sustainable place for people to work and live.”
The first phase of the NOMA project was the construction of the Co-op’s new headquarters at One Angel Square which it then last year sold on in a £142m two-way deal between RREEF Real Estate, the property arm of Deutsche Bank’s asset and wealth management division and Chinese state-owned Gingko Tree Investment. When it was officially opened by The Queen last November, One Angel Square was claimed to be “the most sustainable building in the world”.
Other projects on the NOMA regeneration list are the Grade II listed Hanover Building on Corporation Street which it plans to renovate and convert into offices and retail space; the city’s Hotel Indigo, which will undergo a £26m transformation to reopen as a Marco Pierre White restaurant and hotel; and Three Angel Square, which will offer almost 200,000sq ft of flexible office space aimed at small to medium-sized companies.
