Manchester Science Partnerships is to invest £60m in a major expansion of its biomedical centre of excellence, Citylabs.
Announced at the EuroScience Open Forum 2016 (ESOF) it is a major vote of confidence for the city region creating 750 new jobs.
Citylabs 2.0 and Citylabs 3.0 will be located on the corner of Oxford Road and Hathersage Road, at the southern gateway to Europe’s largest clinical-academic campus.
The new development will provide additional space to enable biomedical companies to grow and co-create new health products, in collaboration with the NHS and academia.
Once complete and fully let, the two additions will bring additional economic growth in excess of £100m.
Rowena Burns, chief executive of Manchester Science Partnerships said: “Manchester’s Innovation District will be strengthened further by the development of Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0.
"Our investment will help create fresh ideas, partnerships and scientific discovery. Above all, Manchester and the north west offer investors outstanding access to talent, knowledge and clinical facilities.”
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The project is the first to be delivered by the Strategic Property Partnership between MSP's parent company, Bruntwood, and CMFT.
Announced in March, the partnership will support the delivery of clinical care, research and innovation, as well as the future development of CMFT’s estate.
Steve Mycio, chairman of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust added: ”By working together in this way with industry, the NHS can ensure health technologies are developed that deliver better outcomes more efficiently to meet current and future needs of our patients and healthcare providers.
“Earlier this year our campus received designation as a Life Sciences Enterprise Zone. This will make Citylabs and our campus an even more attractive place for business, especially spin outs from the hospitals and universities.”
Citylabs 2.0 will include 85,000 sq ft of lab & office space
Citylabs 1.0, which opened in September 2014 after a £25m redevelopment, was fully let within 15 months of opening.
It is on track to generate more than 400 new jobs and contribute an estimated £60m a year to Manchester’s economy.
The £25m Citylabs 2.0 development will comprise 85,000 sq ft of lab and office space subject to planning permission being granted. Construction work will begin in spring 2017, with completion expected in summer 2018.
Citylabs 3.0 will include both the development of new buildings and integration with Old Saint Mary’s Hospital, an existing listed Victorian building, comprising 100,000 sq ft.
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 ear-marked for a café/ dining area with the potential for meeting room facilities, as well as extensive external landscaping and the provision of new public realm.
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Chris Oglesby, chairman of MSP and CEO of Bruntwood added: “It is great to see our pioneering Strategic Property Partnership with the NHS in Manchester hitting the ground running.
“Our investment in Citylabs 1.0 has been a huge success and we are confident that Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 will be similarly well received by businesses centred in bio-medical research and innovation.
“Manchester’s excellent connectivity, universities and talent pool, combined with its spirit of enterprise means the city is well placed to thrive in the coming years and we are determined to be at the heart of this journey.”
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester council added: “Citylabs epitomises Manchester's proud tradition of cutting edge research, one of our distinctive strengths.
“This major investment sends out a resounding message that we remain an outward and forward-looking city in which those who want to invest and create jobs can flourish."
Source: Manchester Evening News
