Landsec has acquired a majority stake in Media City, the digital media tech hub in Salford, Greater Manchester
Media City was previously owned by a 50:50 JV between Legal & General and Peel L&P.
Landsec will partner with Peel L&P who will retain a 25% stake and continue to serve as asset and development manager.
The waterside destination is home to tech and media brands, such as BBC North and ITV, and over 250 creative and tech businesses, schools and universities.
As the biggest digital media tech hub outside of London, Media City produces 50,000 hours of content every year, and is home to 8,000 residents and workers.
Phase one of the build was completed 10 years ago, comprising workspace, studios, incubator labs, and residential properties, alongside leisure and retail facilities.
Phase Two of the build has already seen the completion of two residential towers – ‘The Green Rooms’ and ‘The Lightbox’, alongside mixed-use commercial space, ‘Tomorrow building’.
The second phase has outlined planning consent for an additional 1.6 million sq ft, which will include office and residential space, and is estimated to generate a Gross Development Value (GDV) of £750m.
‘A high quality, income-producing asset’
Mark Allan, Landsec CEO, said: “Mixed-use developments with a clear sense of place are becoming an increasingly important ingredient in the fabric of cities.
“Opportunities to participate in large scale, established mixed-use developments are scarce and Media City is one such opportunity.
“This acquisition presents us with the opportunity to deploy capital immediately into high quality income-producing assets and also to invest further over time through the development of phase two.
“Media City is a compelling addition to our portfolio, providing the opportunity to invest and further develop the estate with the potential to be onsite from the first half of 2023.
“I’m particularly excited to be able to work alongside Peel, whose experience and expertise complements our own.”
‘Benefitting Media City’s local, regional and national stakeholders’
Steven Underwood, Peel L&P CEO, said: “In the past 10 years we have created a unique destination, currently unrivalled in the UK for its breadth of offering, from global content creation and innovation, to waterside living and leisure.
“Our successful partnership with L&G over the past six years has made possible great strides in Media City’s phase two delivery, seeing over 60,000 sq ft of commercial space, a 110-room hotel and 750 apartments added to Media City over that period.
“Our new partnership with Landsec is another exciting step towards our stated vision to double the size of Media City.
“As Media City enters its 11th year we look forward to working alongside Landsec whose ethos and vision are aligned with ours, to deliver MediaCity’s global potential benefitting all MediaCity’s local, regional and national stakeholders.”
