Plans lodged for £60m Citylabs expansion

The UK’s largest science park operator has lodged plans for a £60m expansion of the Citylabs campus, its biomedical centre of excellence, on Manchester’s Oxford Road.If Manchester Science Partnership’s (MSP’s) plans are approved, the proposed developments are expected to boost Manchester’s economy by more than £100m and bring 750 jobs to the city by 2020. The proposals are being taken forward in a joint venture partnership with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT).Located on the CMFT campus, Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 would be targeted at health and medical technology companies.MSP and CMFT have already received a number of expressions of interest from potential occupiers after showcasing Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 during a recent trade mission to the US, which included meetings at the global AdvaMed conference.The submission of the planning application follows a public exhibition and consultation in November at Citylabs 1.0.The proposed £25m Citylabs 2.0 development would comprise 92,000 sq ft of lab and office space. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction work will begin in autumn 2017, with completion expected in late 2018.And Citylabs 3.0 would span 128,000 sq ft and integrate the development of new buildings with the Old Saint Mary’s Hospital, an existing listed Victorian building. Construction is planned to start in summer 2018 and is due to be completed in 2020.The £35m project includes the restoration of a currently unused former chapel on the site, which is earmarked for a café/ dining area with the potential for meeting room facilities.The scheme also includes extensive external landscaping and the provision of new gardens for the enjoyment of Citylabs customers and other users of the hospital facilities. It comprises both new-build and redevelopment of the Old Saint Mary’s Hospital building on the corner of Oxford Road and Hathersage Road.If approved, Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 would be the first to be delivered through the strategic property partnership between MSP, Bruntwood, and CMFT. Announced in March 2016, the partnership supports the delivery of clinical care, research and innovation through the strategic development of CMFT’s estate.