Atlas Residential and IP Investment Management ("IPIM") have acquired a €62.7m (£55m) GDV waterfront private rented sector development site in MediaCityUK, Salford, from Peel Land & Property ("Peel").
Bouygues UK ("Bouygues") is the contractor and Peel will act as the developer of what will be MediaCityUK's first forward funded build to rent development.
Located on The Manchester Ship Canal, directly opposite ITV's 'Coronation Street' and adjacent to the offices of the BBC, the new scheme is 500 meters from the Metro (10-minute ride into Manchester city centre) and will benefit from proximity to MediaCityUK's now established leisure and retail offerings as continued occupational demand remains robust for this exciting major regeneration district, as evidenced by Kellogg announcing in July the relocation of its headquarters to MediaCityUK.
Due to start construction in October 2017, the 189,204ft² building will feature 238 contemporary apartments for rent over 19 floors. The development's unit mix comprises 134 one-bedroom, 85 two-bedroom and 19 three-bedroom rental apartments while offering 1st class resident amenities including an onsite club lounge and landscaped outdoor terrace facing the waterfront.
This is Atlas' third BtR investment following its projects in Southampton (which is operational this month) and Birmingham, but it is an overall double first because until now there has been no purpose built PRS development in MediaCityUK. Furthermore, this represents a new partnership for Atlas & IPIM, which both parties intend to replicate by capitalising on the success of this deal with further acquisitions.
The acquisition of this site in MediaCityUK represents IPIM's first investment in the UK PRS sector, where it hopes to replicate the success of its investments in US multifamily.
