ST. MODWEN TO MARKET 14-ACRE DEVELOPMENT SITE IN SALFORD

St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, is bringing a 14-acre development site to market close to Eccles town centre in Salford.

The move follows St. Modwen’s purchase and lease back of the 36-acre Akcros Chemicals site which took place in May 2007. The deal included provision for Akcros Chemicals to reorganise its operations at the site which would ultimately unlock the14-acres for development which sit to the rear of the plot overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal around Irwell Avenue and Boardman Street.

Akcros Chemicals which also operates out of a site in New Brunswick in the state of New Jersey, USA, will remain in situ following the company’s rationalisation and significant capital investment into its Eccles plant. The marketing of the development site will bring no changes to the level of services Akcros Chemicals offers from its UK base.

The final use for the 14-acre site is yet to be determined as preliminary discussions with Salford City Council and Urban Regeneration Company (URC) Central Salford have identified an opportunity to masterplan the whole site which would allow a coherent land use strategy to be developed.

St. Modwen’s regional director, Michelle Taylor said: “We are very keen to work with Salford City Council and Central Salford URC to develop mixed-use masterplan for the site which would identify the exact proposed use for the site.

“Any development should fit into the future strategic vision of the area and supplement the existing developments in Eccles town centre and builds on the recent and future successes in the city.”

Eccles’ strategic importance has been enhanced recently with the granting of planning consent for a new Tesco store which will generate 400 jobs and breathe new life into the West One retail park which opened in 2001.

With the creation of a new link road between Centenary Circle and Daniel Adamson Road, Eccles will also become the key gateway to the £500m Media City development which includes a new home for the BBC in the North, 700,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, 378 residential apartments and 80,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space. Media city could ultimately support 15,000 new jobs in Salford.