UPDATE: Beijing Construction and Engineering Group has joined former Manchester United football stars Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and the Singaporean billionaire owner of Valencia football club to develop a 500,000 sq ft project in Manchester.
BCEG – which backs the £800m Manchester Airport City project – will join Peter Lim-controlled developer Rowsley in forward-funding the leisure redevelopment of the former Bootle Street Police Station and surrounding sites in the city centre.
Estates Gazette revealed on Wednesday that Lim and his co-funders were taking majority ownership of the project upon completion in return for funding construction.
In its first venture into Europe, Lim’s Rowsley will pay £40m for a 75% stake in the company set up to develop £200m Bootle Street project, which will be renamed St Michael.
State-owned BCEG will take 21% of the firm, with Neville’s Relentless Investments and Giggs’ RGJR Ltd retaining 2% each.
Manchester city council has granted St Michael a leasehold title of 250 years. The project includes a five-star hotel, retail, leisure, residential and office elements.
Rowsley will also pay £29.1m to take a 75% stake in each of the three companies holding the assets of Hotel Football, Café Football and hotel management GG Collections.
Lim already part-owned the scheme, along with Neville, Giggs, and fellow former Manchester United players Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
The deals follow prime minister David Cameron’s recent trade mission to Singapore, where he urged the region’s investors to consider the Northern Powerhouse.
Lim is involved in several property ventures, including Singapore-listed developer Rowsley and a stake in real estate portal TheEdgeProperty.com.
In 2014 he took over Spanish football team Valencia, and is worth $1.8bn (£1.2bn), according to Forbes.
Lim and the footballing legends partnered previously in 2014, striking a deal to split the ownership of Salford City Football Club.
The St Michael project involves redeveloping the former Bootle Street Police Station, the adjoining United Reform synagogue, the Abercrombie pub and a parcel of open land on Jackson’s Row.
A planning framework will be presented to the council executive next month, with construction expected to start in the second half of 2016.
Manchester city council has teamed up with the police commissioner to buy the police station for £2m, with the long lease taken by JRDC.
Zerum is developing the scheme. Jackson’s Row Development Company is the lead development manager.
Rowsley chief executive Lock Wai Han said: “We are excited to be in Manchester and to tap into its vibrancy and growth. Gary and his team exemplify the dynamism of the city and the city council, and it’s a style of working we are very comfortable with in Singapore.
“St Michael’s will be a landmark city centre development and will meet the growing demand for quality accommodation and offices as Manchester continues to benefit from the migration of businesses from high-cost London.”
Neville said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Hotel Football and the city of Manchester. To be able to use and harness Rowsley’s enormous knowledge and expertise is unbelievable.
“Our partnership with Rowsley represents a very important milestone for the development of St Michael’s, which is destined to be one of the most exciting and transformational projects for Manchester city.
“We believe Manchester is entering a new renaissance that will make the city a world-class location for businesses from around the world.”
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester city council, added: “This prime location in the city’s civic quarter is a significant opportunity to complement the investment that is taking place across the city with high-quality mixed-use development.
“We have supported a robust planning framework for the site, which will be presented to the council’s executive next month, and very much welcome the involvement of these new investors in the scheme. It’s further proof of Manchester’s standing in the global marketplace and the city’s growing attraction to international investors.”
