Ancoats Annual Report 06/07

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Ancoats Urban Village Annual Report 2006/07

September 2007

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Overall outcome envisaged:-

1800 new residential properties 50,000 square metres of new commercial floor space 1,600 new jobs accommodated 8 Hectares of derelict or underused brownfield land transformed into viable new uses ÂŁ320M new private sector investment secured ÂŁ48m public sector investment

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Contents

Section

Page No

1

Foreword

3

2

Executive Summary

4

3

The Locality

5

4

Regeneration Context

7

5

The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) & Complementary Funding

8

6

Partnership Working & Delivery

9

7

Progress Against Outputs

10

8

Progress Against Expenditure

11

9

Major Achievements 2006/07

12

10

Status of Developments – March 2007

15

11

The Year Ahead

17

12

Complementary Activity – Public Realm Works

19

13

Conclusions

20

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1. Foreword:

The NWDA Annual Report for Ancoats, outlines the progress being made by the Agency and our partners New East Manchester and Manchester City Council , to stimulate the regeneration of this important part of the City Centre.

Much has happened during the 2006/07 financial year, with an increased budget being secured, some large scale changes in project personnel being made to assist delivery, and most importantly further tangible achievements being delivered on the ground that build on the successes of previous years.

Indeed it is estimated that on site and in design are some 1800 residential units and over 50,000 square metres of commercial floor space, all on target to be delivered by 2010. The NWDA’s pioneering use of Regional Development Agency compulsory purchase powers has enabled it to acquire those sites where owners have proven unwilling or unable to bring forward appropriate development, and sites acquired on this basis will be brought to the market to maintain the development momentum.

The long term vision for Ancoats remains to bring the area firmly into the 21st century whilst celebrating and enhancing the area’s unique historic character.

The Urban Village will not be preserved in aspic as a testament to the role it undertook, it will become a vibrant mixed use part of the City relevant to the people who live and work in it now, as well as to those that will come to the area in the future. New uses continue to be found for the historic buildings so that their long term future can be secured. New buildings, which have the quality to sit alongside listed buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries, are being encouraged on the vacant sites. These developments are ensuring that the population living and working in the area continues to increase providing the economic climate to sustain local businesses and services and to justify the increasing investment and values within the area.

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1. Executive Summary

The 2006/07 financial year has seen further significant strides made in delivering regeneration on the ground in Ancoats, with an increased budget being secured, some large scale changes in project personnel being made to assist delivery, and most importantly further tangible achievements being delivered on the ground that build on the successes of previous years.

The Agency’s CPO for Ancoats was made in October 2001, an Inquiry was held in June 2002, and the CPO was confirmed in September 2002. The CPO provided everyone with the confidence and certainty that the whole of the area was going to be transformed. To overcome the challenges facing Ancoats, NWDA and NEM are working closely together, with additional input also received from Manchester City Council, English Heritage and Ancoats Building Preservation Trust (now Heritage Works Buildings Preservation Trust).

It is estimated that on site and in design are some 1800 residential units and over 50,000 square feet of commercial floor space.

Developments completed during 2006/07 were: former George Leigh St School (office conversion); Phase 1 of Royal Mills mixed use scheme (recognised by four awards including the RICS and NW Insider), shell repairs to Murrays Mills and the former St Peter’s Church; starts were made on Express Networks III, BS41 and Sarah Point.

Key milestones for the year head will include starts on: Heart of Ancoats, 4547 Bengal Street, Flintglass Apartments, the Stockbridge Airco site, and the Ice Plant. These developments will be complemented by further improvements to the public realm, including the construction of a new public square.

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3. The Locality

The renaissance of Manchester over the last decade has taken place on an unprecedented scale, with the area reinventing itself as a modern and truly cosmopolitan city. It is a dynamic growing commercial centre, a developing world class university city, a regional centre for shopping, transport, culture and entertainment.

The Ancoats urban village area of Manchester covers primarily some 20 hectares it is just over 1 kilometre north east of the central retail and office area of the City Centre. Adjoining the thriving Northern Quarter with its eclectic mix of activity, Ancoats Urban Village has frontages on to Great Ancoats Street and Oldham Road, with the Rochdale canal forming the southern boundary.

Ancoats is rich in industrial and architectural heritage, spanning the development of urban cotton spinning and related activities from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.. It was designated a Conservation Area in 1989 and, along with Castlefied and the Worsley Basin is on the UK tentative list for inscription as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Conservation Area contains 14 listed buildings, 7 of which are Grade II*.

The Ancoats area also contains another key project within the wider New East Manchester regeneration initiative; New Islington. immediately adjacent to Ancoats Urban Village, it is the UK’s third Millennium Community, where a former Council estate is being redeveloped to provide over 1700 new homes, a new clinic and a new school, all based around a new canal and high quality public realm. This project is being taken forward via a partnership between New East Manchester, English Partnerships and Lead Developer, Urban Splash.

Major transformation is also planned for Miles Platting, the area immediately to the north east of Ancoats. Under the Government’s Private Finance Initiative this area, characterised by 1970’s council housing, will be transformed through selective demolition, refurbishment of retained homes and infill new build, into a mixed tenure neighbourhood around the newly restored Rochdale Canal.

As a place to live, work and play, Ancoats is ideally placed to offer the benefits of living in the city with all the cultural and social facilities it has to offer, along with amenities such as health and education that are vital to sustaining communities.

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4. Regeneration Context

During the late 1980s/ early 1990s Manchester made bids to host the Olympic Games. Some buildings in the Ancoats area were purchased by speculators and their occupants given notice to quit. When the bids were unsuccessful the buildings were abandoned heralding a very rapid decline in the area. Already run down, the combination of higher levels of vacancy and poor building maintenance accelerated decline and led to a number of key buildings being lost. In 1998 the Ancoats Urban Village Strategic Framework reported that an estimated that 80% of the commercial and industrial floor space in the area was vacant. The mill complexes were underused, vacant or derelict and the fabric of many buildings was at risk. Perception of the area was that it was threatening and intimidating where vandalism and street crime flourished, a “no go� area for investment Whilst some developer interest had been expressed, it was thwarted by a combination of unrealistic value expectations of landowners and the concern that without some form of concerted action, the area would lack the critical mass necessary to achieve sustained change.

The pattern of ownership was extremely diverse, there were some 201 separate title interests within the core area. Without the ability to accelerate development on all these sites the risk of failure for most was too great, even with grant funding available to cover profit gap.

This combination of the inability to assemble the land required, coupled with the uncertainties related to single developments, resulted in negligible progress in regeneration on the ground. Earlier public sector interventions had proven insufficient– small industrial unit provision, City Grant to convert the Beehive Mill and Express Newspapers, ad hoc land assembly by English Partnerships and the NWDA, landscaping, etc. As a consequence of these earlier attempts, there was recognition that a focussed delivery organisation was required to promote and coordinate the renaissance of the area, leading to the formation in 1996 of the Ancoats Urban Village Company (AUVC) and its sister, the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (now Heritage Works). These companies were set up by the SRB funded Eastside Regeneration Project, the aim being to enable ABPT to source potential funding not available to the private sector and for AUVC (now subsumed within New East Manchester) to work with the private sector.

In its first years of operation, AUVC produced (in conjunction with the City Council and English Heritage), the Supplementary Planning Guidance and a Public Realm Strategy.

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5. The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)

The loss of the UK gap funding regime due to an EU ruling against it on competition grounds, made it even clearer to all partners that there was no prospect of regeneration within Ancoats without some alternative form of intervention. Confidence in Ancoats, where it existed at all, was ebbing away and many developers expressed their concern that if they were to proceed with their developments, they would be on their own in an otherwise unimproving area.

The need to provide certainty that a critical mass of development could be achieved was ever more pressing. The loss of the “carrot” incentive to promote unviable/marginal development led partners, by this time including the fledgling NWDA, to consider other action and the possibility of a regeneration based compulsory purchase order (CPO) was first mooted. Legal advice confirmed that this was an appropriate use of RDA powers.

The Agency’s CPO for Ancoats was made in October 2001, an Inquiry was held in June 2002, and the CPO was confirmed in September 2002. Between July 03 and the expiry of cpo powers in Oct 05, the Agency executed 8 General Vesting Declarations. . The CPO covered circa 8 hectares of the 20 hectares comprising the Ancoats Urban Village.

Where owners/ developers were as a consequence willing to carry out developments in accordance with the aspirations for the area, they were required to enter into Implementation Agreements. CPO powers were then not exercised in exchange for owners/ developers accepting a timetable for implementing development and agreeing to surrender their freeholds in return for long leaseholds to facilitate an area wide management body.

Where owners were unwilling to offer development proposals for their sites, or were unable to agree schemes within the timescale afforded by the CPO for doing so, these properties were acquired by the Agency for disposal either to pre- CPO formally registered interests, or to put on the open market.

Other Complementary Funding In addition to the funding being made available under the CPO Project, the Agency has committed other resources to the area, including gap funding of circa £23m on six projects including Royal Mills (£9M) and Murray’s Mills (£5M) and public realm works (£5M). NWDA funding has facilitated access to further funds from the Heritage Lottery and European Regional Development Funds.

English Heritage also funded essential repair works that stabilised several buildings at risk.

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6. Partnership Working & Delivery

The regeneration of the Ancoats area is being spearheaded by New East Manchester through the Ancoats Urban Village Company (AUVC was subsumed into, New East Manchester Ltd (NEM) in April 2005). The original AUVC board contained members nominated by Manchester City Council, NWDA, the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust and the Princes Foundation (they withdrew from the project in 2003).

In addition, there was representation from the private sector and observer status for English Heritage (their statutory involvement in the area precluded full membership). The Chair was a private sector representative and the company was fortunate in attracting two prestigious property developers to that role; initially Tom Bloxham MBE until 2001 and subsequently Jim Ramsbottom until 2005. Since the dissolution of that board, the activities of the Urban Village are reported to the NEM Board, however the spirit of the earlier board has been maintained through ongoing informal dialogue with key stakeholders.

Following a restructuring within NWDA, new internal governance structures were put in place during 2006/07 in line with Agency standards.

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7. Progress Against Outputs

The regeneration of Ancoats has been underway since 1998 and the cpo action since 2001, in a review of progress undertaken during 2006/07 an analysis of outputs resulting either directly or indirectly from the Compulsory Purchase Order were as outlined in the tables below:

Outputs Arising Directly from the CPO Output Category

Total Gross

Achieved to 31 March 2007

Under Construction 31 March 2007

Residential Units

1,147

55

382

30,392

6,295

5,130

1,229

316

223

Private sector leverage

£190m

£14m

£62m

Public sector leverage

£2.95m

£1.6m

£0.7m

3.8ha

0.8ha

1.1ha

Output Category

Total Gross

Achieved to 31 March 2007

Under Construction 31 March 2007

Residential Units

666

92

326

19,582

2,435

12,895

334

99

90

£132m

£13M

£85m

4.2

0.5ha

0.8ha

Commercial Floor space (sq m) Gross jobs accommodated

Brownfield land remediated

Complementary Outputs

Commercial Floor space (sq m) Gross jobs accommodated Private sector leverage Brownfield land remediated

In addition to the cpo activity, the outputs in the table above, benefited from other measures provided by NWDA and other sources in order to be brought to fruition. These include; Royal Mills, Murrays’ Mills, MM2, Flint Glass Works, Ice Plant. NWDA has committed a further £15m funding over and above that committed to the CPO alongside HLF and ERDF funding to secure these developments.

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8. Progress Against Expenditure

Funding Re-approval During 2006//07 the project budget was increased from £16M to £43.5M, largely as a result of increased land values. NWDA Board agreed to revise the project budget on 16 November 2006, with formal endorsement of this increase being received from the Department of Trade Industry on 4 April 2007. Notwithstanding this, it should be noted that the project has resulted in the Agency coming into ownership of a substantial amount of property which will in turn generate additional significant capital receipts in the future. Accordingly, the difference in net expenditure between the 2003 approval and that secured this year is relatively marginal.

Spend on CPO Project: Actual and Forecast Ancoats CPO Project (£Ms) Total to 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 date

Land purchases Write downs / write backs Professional fees Estate costs Total expenditure

0.1

-

4.0

1.6

-

-

-

0.1

0.5

0.3

0.6

-

-

-

0.2

0.5

4.3

07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 Project total

1.0

0.8

13.5

21.0

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

21.8

2.0 (0.9)

-

6.9

8.0

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

8.8

0.1

0.2

0.5

2.3

0.9

1.0

0.4

0.3

4.9

-

0.2

0.1

0.4

0.7

0.9

0.3

0.3

0.3

2.5

4.2

0.4

1.1 21.3 32.0

2.2

1.7

1.1

1.0

38.0

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9. Major Achievements 2006/07

Express III (nearly finished) During 2006/07, Artisan commenced work on Express III, which will deliver a mix of new build apartments and workspace. This £5M private sector investment will yield 56 new residential units and 6,000 square metres of new commercial floor space.

41 Bengal Street (nearly finished) Substantial progress has been made on this seven storey City South development of 50 new apartments and 1,000 square metres of commercial floor space. Acting on word of mouth, all but three of the apartments within this modernist cube were snapped up 12 months in advance of the development’s completion date of August 07.

Royal Mills The triple award winning Royal Mills scheme where ING Real Estate Development is engineering a restoration of one of the UKs most historically important cotton spinning complexes reflects the renewed confidence in Ancoats. Completion of the first stage of the £85m scheme has involved the installation of a spectacular £1m courtyard atrium. Last year saw the Dutch property company complete 198 of the planned 315 residential units and 7,600 square metres of business space.

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9. Major Achievements 2006/07

Barrons Site – Sarah Point Works got under way on the distinctive and contemporary looking Sarah Point development by B S C Developments.

This 12 floor landmark building fronting onto Great Ancoats Street will house 1,500 square metres of commercial floor space with 139 residential units above.

ASK – former George Leigh Street School ASK Developments have now completed the redevelopment of a former school on George Leigh Street for offices. Some 800 square metres of new commercial floor space has been created by this £1,111,000 investment which is capable of accommodating up to 40 employees.

Murrays Shell Repair After a £14M restoration programme to save them from collapse, the huge buildings that are Murray’s Mills complex are now waiting for the next stage of their reincarnation. The work so far to strengthen the Grade II* listed structures, re-slate the roof and put in new windows has been publicly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and NWDA, and was overseen by Ancoats Building Preservation Trust. The Burrell Company and Inpartnership will next turn the buildings into a mixed use development. Old Mill will be converted into five floors of apartments with lower ground floor units having their own front doors. New Mill on the opposite side of the courtyard will have ground floor offices with apartments above. The buildings along Murray Street will be turned into offices and a new hotel, forming the final side of the quadrangle.

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St.Peter’s Shell Repair St Peter’s Church was built in 1859 and is of a distinctive Romanesque style. The church was acquired by the Ancoats Building Preservation Trust (ABPT) in 1997 on a long lease from Manchester City Council. ABPT sourced a £905,000 stage 2 HLF grant and £704,000 grant from the NWDA to complete the permanent repair of St.Peter’s as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the Ancoats area. The works included external and internal repairs – brickwork, re-pointing and re-roofing as required, reinstatement of lost features, provision of services and full disabled access.

Construction commenced on 27 July 2004 and was completed in May 2006.

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10. Status of Developments

Name/address of development

Developer

Comment

Status of Development

1

Waulk Mill, Redhill St/Bengal St,

Urban Splash

Successful redevelopment of grade 2 listed mill

Completed

2

Express Networds II

Artisan

Conversion apartments and workspace

Completed

3

8 Loom St

Water Street Company Redevelopment to office + residential use Ltd

Completed

4

Crown and Kettle

Artisan

Refurb of Grade 2 listed PH

Completed

5

Virginia House

Artisan

Refurb of offices and art galllery

Completed

6

Express Networks III

Artisan

New build contemporary apartments + workspace

On site

7

Great Ancoats St - Sarah B S C Point Developments Ltd

Residential and ground floor commercial on On site main road frontage

8

62 Jersey St

Conversion to shop, restaurant and flat

On site

9

George Leigh St School ASK

Redevelopment of former school to offices

On site

10

64a Jersey St Flintglass Apartments

Northern Group

New build apartments

On site

11

41 Bengal Street

City South Developments

Apartments above with gf commercial uses, On site 7 floors +basement car park

12

Hood Street scheme

Northern Group

New build mixed use

Planning approved

13

32-40 Oldham Road

Gore & Khan with Artisan

Mixed use redevelopment of site

Planning approved

14

17-19 Jersey Street

---

Conversion from residential to office use

Planning approved

15

Heart of Ancoats

Artisan

Town houses, apartments and leisure

Planning approved

16

Stockbridge Airco site

Worksharp (Developments) Ltd

Apartments above gf commercial uses, 8 floors +basement car park

Pre-planning application

17

45-47 Bengal Street+ Henshaw's Yard

Nikal/McLean

New build apartments & offices

Pre-planning application

18

Dixon Mill/New Little Mill Burrell/InPartnership

Conversion to multi-storey car park for Murrays Mills

Pre-planning application

19

Blossom Street/Henry St Blossom Street Developments Ltd

Mixed use pub/commercial/residential on 7 Pre-planning floors application

20

66 Jersey Street

Manchester Properties New build apartments, mainly 3 bedroomed Pre-planning application

21

30-34 George Leigh St

---

Mixed use residential and retail

Pre-planning application

22

Elec sub-station, 15 Jersey Street

---

Conversion for office use

Inactive

23

St Michael's Church Prestbytery

N/a, in temporary use New build mixed use opportunity as builders compound

Private Investor

Pre-developer selection

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Name/address of development

Developer

Comment

Status of Development

24

Jactin House

Building not yet available

Redevelopment opportunity

Pre-developer selection

25

30 Poland Street (not part of cpo)

Site not yet available

Site assembly not yet complete

Pre-developer selection

26

6 Loom Street

not yet available

Redevelopment opportunity

Pre-developer selection

27

87-91 Great Ancoats Street

Building not yet available

Redevelopment opportunity

Pre-developer selection

28

Blossom St/Hood St (no developer)

not yet available

New build opportunity

Pre-developer selection

29

St Michael's Church

Seeking community facility promoter

Initially seeking sustainable community use Pre-developer selection

30

Flint Glass Works, 64 Jersey St

Northern Group

Conversion of glass works to workspace

31

MM2 Gt Ancoats St/Redhill St

Gleeson/Persimmon Homes

New build apartments+ shops on main road Completed frontage

32

Gt Ancoats Street / Redhill Street

NWDA/NEM

Public open space adjoining canal

33

Royal Mills (incorporates ING Real Estate 13B + 19) R+NB

Redevelopment of 2*listed Mill to residential On site and commercial uses. Phase 1 completed

34

Ice Plant

Northern Group

Apartments above gf commercial uses, 9 floors +2 levels basement car park

Planning approved

35

Murrays Mills

Burrell/InPartnership

Historic structure secured, for developer to fit out,

Planning approved

36

Public Realm

NWDA/NEM/Section 106 etc funded

Step change in highway surface, furniture,

Planning approved

37

Blossom St POS

NWDA/NEM

Public square providing setting for surrounding

Pre-planning application

38

St Peter's Church

---

Proposed national embroidery & textile museum

Pre-planning application

39

Car Park

NWDA/NEM

Car park

Pre-planning application

40

Coates School, 2 Jersey Street

---

Conversion of former school to office use

Completed

41

27 Blossom Street

Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments

Office refurbishment

Completed

42

2-4 Loom Street

Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments

Workshop to office refurbishment

Completed

43

Sam's Foundry 46 Radium Street

Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments

Refurbishment fo 3 storey warehouse occupied by PCT

Completed

44

Ghulam House

Freedia Fabrics

Existing use (multi let commerical)

None required

45

Owen's Car Park

---

Existing use (car park)

None required

Completed

Completed

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11. The Year Ahead

Heart of Ancoats (Artisan) The planned Heart of Ancoats development will see the developer Artisan in association with Activestream construct 137 town houses and apartments, alongside 198 square metres of leisure development. Total private sector investment will fall just short of £20 million.

45 -49 Bengal Street – City South The developer City South will be making a start during 2007/08 on the construction of new build apartments and offices on the site of 45 to 47 Bengal Street. Some 135 residential units will be provided alongside 2,047 square metres of commercial floor space which is capable of accommodating 108 new jobs. Total private sector investment is estimated to be in the region of £15.5 million.

Flintglass Apartments (Northern Group) Flintglass apartments will see the construction of 136 new residential units by the Northern Group abutting the adjacent canal. Some 205 square metres of commercial development will complement these apartments, representing a total private sector investment of £15 million.

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Stockbridge Airco site (Worksharp) The redevelopment of the former Stockbridge Airco industrial premises will see 194 new residential units constructed on seven floors above a ground floor earmarked for commercial uses and a basement car park. The total private sector investment in the development will be £29 million.

Ice Plant (Northern Group) The redevelopment of the former Ice Plant by the Northern Group will see the construction of 136 new apartments 1,200 square metres of commercial development spanning 9 floors, plus a 2 level basement car park. The redevelopment will be capable of accommodating over 60 new jobs and will represent £13.5 million of private sector investment.

Ancoats Management Company

Ancoats 3D Model

The forward strategy for the regeneration of Ancoats and specifically the CPO area is to establish a Management Company that will secure a viable and enduring future for the Urban Village. It will hold the freehold reversion of the estate enabling it to enforce lease covenants and act to ensure that the area does not again deteriorate as it did before. It will maintain the public artworks and ensure that the monitoring and maintenance of CCTV coverage across the area is undertaken. The company is to recover its costs via an estate charge, and manage the 999 year leases on which redevelopments have been secured, to the common benefit of all owners and occupiers.

The Ancoats 3D Model is fully interactive, constructed using computer gaming technology, enabling users to “fly above and walk” around the area. Designed by consultants Arup on behalf of NEM, the model was constructed using both photogrammetry and architects designs. The technology can add a new scheme to the existing environment and show exactly what it would look like to assist with assessing contextual impact. The data is so precise it can be used as evidence to support planning applications.

. The company is to be established during 2007/08, to come into force during Spring 2008, with a detailed Business Plan to be prepared during the Summer of 2007 to commence this process.

During 2007/08 there are plans to further refine and upgrade the 3D model, adding several new proposed developments

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12. Complementary Activity Public Realm Works

At a national and local level the case has been made for high quality public realm by both investors and policy makers. An elegant, robust and sustainable public realm is no longer viewed as an optional commodity for the contemporary city but essential in terms of its efficient functioning and the well-being of its citizens.

A Public Realm Strategy was prepared for Ancoats and approved by the City Council in 2002, which provides specific guidance with regard to the following issues: • • • • • •

traffic management within Ancoats Urban Village Recommendations for pedestrian linkage to neighbouring areas A parking strategy for Ancoats Urban Village Detailed specification for new carriageway and footway materials Lighting recommendations Public Art

Total public funding for the various phases of new public realm is £9M, with additional private sector contributions via Section 106 agreements.

2006 saw Ancoats scoop a Waterways Renaissance Award with the panel commenting that ‘This stunning canal heritage focussed scheme … is an outstanding project in an outstanding location and the panel expects it to regenerate this area dramatically.’

Public realm artist Dan Dubowitz expects to complete the majority of his work during 07/08. Since his appointment he has produced a book of stories and images, put on a major exhibition at Piccadilly Station here in Manchester and at the Cathedral of St John in New York and the final stage of his work is a series of installations within buildings that can be viewed via peepholes from the street. This will introduce an intriguing new dimension into the public realm. It is aimed at making people want to discover more about the area and its interesting past without being “worthily educational”. A preview of this last phase of work will be on show at the Metrolink level of Piccadilly Station from July 07 for approx 3 months.

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13. Conclusions

2006/07 saw a marked acceleration to the transformation of Ancoats.

The area is no longer a byword for abandonment and decay, which is a testament to the ongoing efforts of the North West Development Agency, New East Manchester, Manchester City Council and various private sector partners. Of 45 plots identified for development within the boundary of the CPO, 11 are fully developed, seven are on site and 19 have negotiations at an advanced stage.

NWDA is planning to invest a total of £27 million in the CPO area, in addition to providing gap funding of over £15 million on six projects including Royal Mills (£8 million) and Murrays Mills (£4.7m). Arising from this significant level of investment, both the NWDA and NEM remain confident that this level of support in the eight hectares covered by the CPO will attract private sector investment of £322 million and deliver 50,000 sq metres of commercial floor space, 1800 apartments (120,000sq m) and 1600 new jobs, many in the professional and creative sectors. Ancoats will become a place where people want to live, work and visit. Alongside the wide choice of housing and varying business premises, people will find local shops, restaurants and bars. Ancoats will become a safe place, which is attractive to visitors, with new public spaces and new leisure uses helping to bring life back into this area of unique character and heritage.

Peter Hetherington, talking about the rise in canal side regeneration and redevelopment, wrote in the Guardian on May 3 2006: The centre piece, astride the Rochdale and Ashton Canals, is Ancoats Urban Village, which is this year’s winner of the Waterways Renaissance Awards, run by the Waterways Trust and the British Urban Regeneration Association. Praising the scheme, made possible through £40m of public funding, which has attracted more than £200m of private investment, the judges hailed a “stunning canalheritage scheme…an outstanding project in an outstanding location”. ’In addition, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) says the streets of Ancoats and New Islington are among the best in England.

A CABE report praises the area’s partners for helping transform the `attractive industrial suburb' into an `elegant public space'. It says Ancoats and New Islington show what can be achieved with a `clear design vision'.

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Ancoats is often referred to as the world's first industrial suburb The development of Ancoats began in the late 1700s, and peaked during the Industrial Revolution, when Manchester became known as 'Cottonopolis' In 1989, part of Ancoats was designated a Conservation Area Some 14 buildings are Grade 2 listed, 7 of them at Grade 2* The mill developments built along the line of the Rochdale Canal came from the marriage of steam power technology and greatly improved spinning machines.

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September 2007 NWDA H9-04