Development and regeneration company, Cityheart has acquired the 442-home Royal George Village site on Greek Street in Stockport, continuing its commitment to the transformation of Stockport town centre.
Cityheart secured the site following the withdrawal of previous developer Investar Property Group, which had originally been appointed as the developer in 2022.
Royal George Village is the largest purpose built apartment development in Stockport and has a GDV of £120m. Following the acquisition Cityheart made an immediate start on site with PP O’Connor commencing enabling works on the day the purchase completed.
The scheme is part of the 130-acre regeneration district Town Centre West, which is being driven forward by Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). The district will deliver 4,000 new homes, alongside local amenities, green spaces, new workspace and radical transport improvements, transforming Stockport into the most liveable and well-connected town in Greater Manchester.
A £9m GMCA brownfield grant has been secured to support the delivery of the scheme which was previously part of the Stockport College campus. Cityheart is now procuring a contracting partner for the first phase of the scheme and will commence demolition and construction works in mid December, the full scheme is scheduled for completion in 2026.
Jonny Wrigley group chief executive of Cityheart comments: “Royal George Village is one of Stockport’s most important residential opportunities and we are proud to be bringing these much-needed contemporary homes forward, further enhancing the quality of housing in Stockport town centre. Since topping out our 196 apartment scheme with our joint venture partner Rise Homes at Stockport Interchange in May, we have been keen to contribute further to the regeneration of Stockport and investing in Royal George Village provides the ideal opportunity to continue our relationship with the town.
“We have made an immediate start on site and will implement a rapid build programme to deliver these high quality new homes at Royal George Village which will be a key contributor to Stockport’s ongoing renaissance.”
Eamonn Boylan, interim chair of Stockport MDC said: “Delivering more, high quality homes for local people to live in the town centre is where true regeneration starts – we then start to see the positive impact on our high streets, in our retail centres, and we create a larger workforce which attracts businesses and drives forward the town’s prosperity.
2023 has seen significant progress to Stockport’s £1billion town centre regeneration, and, as we look ahead to what is set to be a monumental year with the completion of a number of our landmark developments, we look forward to working with the team at Cityheart to deliver these essential new homes for Stockport.”
The regeneration of the three-acre site on Greek Street and six neighbouring buildings will see the former college campus redeveloped into a mixed-use scheme which includes 442 apartments both for sale and rent. The 115,000 sq ft Torkington Building will be converted into 122 apartments, while the 60,000 sq ft Lyme Centre would be demolished and replaced with a 16-storey apartment block comprising 258 units.
The grade-two listed Greek Street Building – the former Metropolitan Girls’ School – will be converted into collaborative co-working space for local businesses.
In addition, a new-build six-storey ‘Gateway’ building will be constructed providing 62 apartments at the corner of Greek Street and Royal George Street with off plan sales set to launch in Q2 2024. The Hexagon lecture hall, located close to the grade two-listed War Memorial Art Gallery, is set to be demolished and replaced with public realm and civic space. The 16,000 sq ft University Centre building will also be demolished to provide an internal, south-facing courtyard to create additional public open space and private gardens for residents.
Original architects, DAY Architectural has been retained to work on the new scheme. Beyond Corporate has provided legal support during the acquisition.
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