According to Place North West, Manchester head-quartered Capital&Centric is understood to have exchanged contracts to buy Weir Mill in Stockport from Maryland Securities for an undisclosed sum.
A prominent site, Weir Mill sits alongside the iconic Stockport viaduct and falls within the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation, a designated area of the town centre to be brought forward for redevelopment, including 3,500 homes as part of the masterplan for Stockport Town Centre West.
A year ago, Maryland revealed plans for the site with architect Hodder & Partners designing a scheme totalling nearly 300 apartments.
Weir Mill includes a number of grade two-listed mill buildings, some built in the late 1700s.
The site has been earmarked for residential development for a number of years; however a scheme was not brought forward due to challenges around viability. However, the new scheme is understood to qualify for part of the £5.6m of Housing Infrastructure Fund money allocated to Stockport Council. According to planning documents submitted with the Hodder scheme, without the funding, the site “will not be able to be regenerated and brought forward for development”.
Cllr Elise Wilson, leader of Stockport Council, said:
“Weir Mill is a key site within the Mayoral Development Corporation area and both Stockport Council and the Mayoral Development Corporation are keen to see it come forward to deliver the ambitions of the MDC as set out in the Strategic Regeneration Framework. We are keen to work with developers with a track record of delivery of high quality schemes and look forward to discussions in due course.”
There has been no comment from Maryland or Capital&Centric.
Capital&Centric has become well known for many listed mill projects in central Manchester, including the £50m Crusader near Piccadilly station, Talbot Mill in Castlefield, and the refurbishment of the London Warehouse aparthotel on Ducie Street. The Weir Mill project would represent the developer’s first residential scheme in a Greater Manchester town.