9 April 2016 – by Louise Clarence-Smith
Ask Real Estate has secured its first new project since being backed by construction giant Carillion.
The developer, in which Carillion acquired a majority stake in January, has bought a 1.7-acre site for a £300m, 750,000 sq ft scheme next to the Manchester Hilton in Deansgate, where residential values are consistently the highest in the city.
The company is led by managing director John Hughes after the departure of Ken Knott in 2013.
The project marks the start of a dramatic turnaround for a company which struggled with its debt during the downturn. It is now debt free and reported a pretax profit of £1.1m in the 12 months to March 2015.
The site was bought from the family owners of the former Bauer Millett luxury car dealership in Albion Street, which sold Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and Maseratis to Manchester’s rich and famous.
Ask now plans to develop a £300m scheme on the site, with early plans including 350,000 sq ft of offices, 400 prime flats, a 150-bedroom four-star hotel and around 30,000 sq ft of leisure space adjacent to the Deansgate-Castlefield metrolink station, with a new passenger connection to Great Bridgewater Street.
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Talks have already begun with global hotel companies for the project, but no occupiers have yet been secured. Local food and beverage operators are in talks over pop-up opportunities in the former car showroom space.
Hughes said Ask’s new relationship with Carillion had given it the “platform to move quickly” to acquire the site.
The development will be delivered in a partnership between Ask, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester Central, the conference and events venue adjacent to the site.
Ask is considering a number of funding options, which could include forward-selling, bringing in an equity partner, or taking it forward itself using debt.
SimpsonHaugh & Partners will design the scheme and a planning application is expected to be submitted in October. Ask hopes to start building in October 2017 with a target completion date of December 2019.
