bryan gray
extended the tram network into the middle of the development with a new dedicated terminus in addition to the tram station outside the Pie Factory. This means that we will have a service in both directions – Eccles and Manchester city centre – every six minutes, with the 15- minute journey into the City centre providing a direct link to the national rail network. The motorway network (M602/M62) is only a few hundred metres away and even the airport is only a 20-minute journey by road. PM-Select: Frequently it is said that in order to achieve high levels of sustainability, it is inevitable that prices will have to rise – do you agree with this? Bryan Gray: In any market, you can only charge what the market will stand. Here we are up against a wide range of commercial, business and residential competition across the region. However, we do believe that we do have certain benefits that justify our level of charges. For example, we have brand new, high technology buildings, built to the latest environmental standards, utilising green energy, situated in an area that is becoming increasingly more attractive as the city develops along the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. We will be able to offer all of the normal services that one would find in any city centre and yet in a much more pleasant surrounding. PM-Select: What has been the reaction of
the local community? Bryan Gray: Because we worked with our partners such as Salford City Council, Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company and Trafford MBC right from the beginning, we have received enormous help and support. We have worked closely with them from Day One and this is vitally important in the management of any development – particularly one as large as this. We will be creating a large number of jobs, both as construction continues and then all around MediaCityUK itself. There have been around 2,000 people working on site during construction and, together with Bovis Lend Lease, we have been able to award more than £188 million worth of contracts to companies in the Salford and Greater Manchester area. PM-Select: Managing a development as large as this must present major logistical problems – how has this been handled? Bryan Gray: You must realise that Peel Holdings has had the experience for many years of managing large facilities, for example the Trafford Centre in Manchester, three airports, docks, etc. We own and will continue to own the whole site – not just the 200 acres so far intended for this overall development, but we also own a considerable amount of other land both adjacent to this site and on the Trafford side of the canal. We
• £500 million private investment
• World-beating Media City
• Leading edge communications network with 20 million metres of optical fibre cable
• World’s first BREEAM
sustainable community
will continue to manage everything on site. From the start of construction work in 2007 until the 8th of July last year, when we held the topping out ceremony on the 19th floor of the 300ft high Studio Block South Tower – the highest point in Phase I - we had invested in 6.5 million man-hours, 85,000 tonnes of concrete and 9,000 tonnes of steelwork. I am delighted to say that, one year on, we have been able to hand over each and every building on schedule and to budget, which is no mean feat these days. It will stand as a tribute to private investment and the rate at which all of the apartments, offices, studios etc are being snapped up shows that we were totally justified in investing £500 million of the Group’s own money in this exciting new City. PM Select: Finally, if you had to do it all again, would you do it the same way? Bryan Gray: Definitely. It has been a real challenge to create a centre for creative thinking, for people who are used to thinking outside the box. I believe that we have responded well to that challenge and have created a solution that is itself outside the conventional box of new development, and not only that we have done everything according to the plan and on schedule. PM-Select: Mr Gray, thank you.
www.pm-select.co.uk l july/august 2010 l Property Management Select l 9
face to face
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