Manchester’s old Granada Studios, where Coronation Street was filmed for over 50 years, is being marketed as a city centre media and arts quarter by developers Allied London.
Allied London’s Spinningfields development
The 13.5 acre site, adjacent to Allied London’s award winning mixed use Spinningfields development, was purchased for £26.5 million last September in a joint venture with Manchester City Council.
At the time of the acquisition Allied London’s chief executive, Michael Ingall, explained that the company’s vision for the site involved integrating it with the surrounding area to create a new sense of place and community.
This will include over one million square feet of office space, 200,000 sq ft of retail space and a sizeable residential element.
The development will also include bars and restaurants to combine business with pleasure and is being promoted as a space for exhibitions, concerts, gigs, weddings and a host of other attractions.
In this sense the vision resembles that of Spinningfields where multinational businesses rub shoulders with designer outlets and visitors can enjoy events like the SpinFest.
“Are you selling fashion or food?” Allied London’s website asks. “Are you a media creative, filming a music video or fashion shoot? Our vacant spaces are available for you.”
“We have the power, technology and enthusiasm to work with a whole host of partners,” they promise.
In the long term the plan for the old studios site is a mixed use development that retains some of the existing buildings alongside new ones, creating a “real area in the city where people can establish themselves and sustain a really exciting community.”
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