I took a visit to MediaCityUK in Salford earlier this week and was impressed, although not surprised, about the progress of the scheme, which now has around 1,700 construction workers on site.
Peel Holdings is clearly confident about the prospects for MediaCity. Although it's anchored by the BBC, it would be a mistake to describe the development as pre-let, since there is a massive amount of speculative space being built. Of the 700,000 sq ft of commercial space being developed, just 433,000 sq ft has been let, of which 330,000 sq ft is being taken by the BBC. This leaves 267,000 sq ft available in a mix of floorplates between 6,000 and 30,000 sq ft.
The BBC starts its handover towards the end of this year and it is expected that the studios will be operational at the end of 2010. The University of Salford - so far the only other occupier - will be opreating out of MediaCity in time for its 2011 student intake.
It's clearly not an ideal time to be bringing large residential apartment schemes to the market but as Peel development director James Whittaker points out, the scheme's resi element has the advantage of appealing to BBC staff. The broadcaster will have confirmed the details of staff relocations by 30 September and Whittaker expects a large demand for rental property, which Peel could provide. The developer's position is enhanced by the generous relocation costs that will be paid by the BBC to staff who are making the move.
I was a bit surprised by the size of the outside space included at MediaCity. A plaza in front of the BBC buildings has capacity for live outdoor events for up to 9,000 people. In addition, the scheme includes a fair chunk of green space, which stretches right down to the water.
I've annotated a couple of photos of MediaCity on Flickr, so you can see which bits of the development are which.
Photo by EGFocus. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons.
Looks good.