Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Thread

[spiny]

There needs to be a transport system linking major points around the city centre. DLR (Docklands Light Railway) is the template with a mix of overground, ground level and underground to avoid traffic. It is relatively cheap to build and run compared with rail, tram and underground systems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway

DLR carriages hold just under 300 passegers wth each train comprising of 2-3 carriages. City fans at the Etihad will be going both ways.

I am no expert but a Phase 1 route starting at Piccadilly then Etihad, Northern Quarter, Victoria Station, Salford, Docks, Old Trafford, Trafford Centre seems lke a good start for sustainability. Other stops could be included. Phase 2 would be a southern line linking the Trafford Centre with Piccadilly so it becomes a circle line.

This would solve many of the problems of getting around, linking transport systems and moving large numbers at events. DLR has enabled the huge growth in East London. A similar system would do the same for Manchester. Now is the time with so much development taking place. GMC should take the lead and engage partners to put plans in place.

The project is at least as important as the Manchester Ship Canal in its day and is essential if Manchester is to cement itself as a major global city and attract further investment.

 

[EricBrooksGhost]

. What's the biggest workplace in Manchester now? Council, hospitals? Offices and shops are closing down. .

Offices aren't; they are booming.
Temporary offices like Spaces and WeWork are getting full as well.
Companies looking for new offices can find it difficult depending upon the size they require.
Tech industry is becoming the biggest sector.

 

[Marvin]

There needs to be a transport system linking major points around the city centre. DLR (Docklands Light Railway) is the template with a mix of overground, ground level and underground to avoid traffic. It is relatively cheap to build and run compared with rail, tram and underground systems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway

DLR carriages hold just under 300 passegers wth each train comprising of 2-3 carriages. City fans at the Etihad will be going both ways.

I am no expert but a Phase 1 route starting at Piccadilly then Etihad, Northern Quarter, Victoria Station, Salford, Docks, Old Trafford, Trafford Centre seems lke a good start for sustainability. Other stops could be included. Phase 2 would be a southern line linking the Trafford Centre with Piccadilly so it becomes a circle line.

This would solve many of the problems of getting around, linking transport systems and moving large numbers at events. DLR has enabled the huge growth in East London. A similar system would do the same for Manchester. Now is the time with so much development taking place. GMC should take the lead and engage partners to put plans in place.

The project is at least as important as the Manchester Ship Canal in its day and is essential if Manchester is to cement itself as a major global city and attract further investment.

Manchester City centre is about 2km in diameter if you use the inner ring road as its circumference. That's a pin-prick compared to London.

I think car users have a problem on match-day travel because Manchester is being actively designed to counter car use. However if you live in Manchester and you don't have a car it's never been better.

 

[Marvin]

Offices aren't; they are booming.
Temporary offices like Spaces and WeWork are getting full as well.
Companies looking for new offices can find it difficult depending upon the size they require.
Tech industry is becoming the biggest sector.

Thanks that's interesting. I didn't know that. There's a lot of buildings going up at the moment. The trouble is that it's difficult to know whether that reflects current demand, or expectations of demand, five years ago when constructions plans were first hatched. Manchester's construction cycle seems to go in boom and bust cycles.

I was thinking of my own past employers. CIS, Barclays Bank. I used to work off St Peters Sq for barclaycard, that's closed down now, and it's building lay empty for years in prime location. Now the building has been knocked down, and a new building is going up. Then I worked in a Co-op building off Portland St. That's being knocked down at the moment too! Latterly I worked at the CIS tower. When I started there were 3,000 people there. When I left there were about a 1,000 and most of the floors were empty. Over the road was New Century House (opposite Victoria Station) and that was half empty too. All my ex-manchester employers are all gone, or near but gone but it sounds like new small employers are taking their place

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Thanks that's interesting. I didn't know that. There's a lot of buildings going up at the moment. The trouble is that it's difficult to know whether that reflects current demand, or expectations of demand, five years ago when constructions plans were first hatched. Manchester's construction cycle seems to go in boom and bust cycles.

I was thinking of my own past employers. CIS, Barclays Bank. I used to work off St Peters Sq for barclaycard, that's closed down now, and it's building lay empty for years in prime location. Now the building has been knocked down, and a new building is going up. Then I worked in a Co-op building off Portland St. That's being knocked down at the moment too! Latterly I worked at the CIS tower. When I started there were 3,000 people there. When I left there were about a 1,000 and most of the floors were empty. Over the road was New Century House (opposite Victoria Station) and that was half empty too. All my ex-manchester employers are all gone, or near but gone but it sounds like new small employers are taking their place

Barclays Manchester operations moved to Spinningfields and Co-op brought all its operations to NOMA.

We also have a lot of relocations coming up here from London.
https://mancunion.com/2019/01/23/national-companies-moving-to-manchester/

For the first time we have more people coming up here from London to live than we are going down there to live.

https://www.benoitproperties.com/why-businesses-are-moving-to-manchester/
“Thanks to the appetite from big business for Manchester office space, Manchester’s core urban area has grown on average seven times faster when compared to other central metropolitan areas of the UK.”

I also read somewhere last year that only two units in the whole of Trafford Park (Europe’s largest industrial estate) lay empty.

 

[somapop]

Have a look at this video (the main footage starts 2 mins 23 seconds in btw). Clearly demonstrates the scale of construction and how the city's are rapidly expanding. MediaCity is about to triple in size and the link between Salford Quays and the City Centre is being built up...those old city limits mean nothing anymore. There's so much more to come too (read recently there's a £1.1 billion proposal for Ardwick! 'Manchester' is huge but always with a compact city centre...but that's not going to be the case for much longer.

 

[jrb]

The souvenir store is having another makeover.

Obviously tieing in with the new Puma kit and merchandise.

 

[jrb]

I’m sure Ric won’t mind?

Would never link another City forum.

If anyone wants to keep up with all the property developments in Manchester, click here. SSC, Manchester. https://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=335

PS. Manchester reached it’s record crane count recently. *82 cranes* in the city centre and Salford Quays at the same time.The previous record was 63 cranes during the last property and building boom.

 

[Marvin]

Have a look at this video (the main footage starts 2 mins 23 seconds in btw). Clearly demonstrates the scale of construction and how the city's are rapidly expanding. MediaCity is about to triple in size and the link between Salford Quays and the City Centre is being built up...those old city limits mean nothing anymore. There's so much more to come too (read recently there's a £1.1 billion proposal for Ardwick! 'Manchester' is huge but always with a compact city centre...but that's not going to be the case for much longer.

At the moment the City centre is getting denser. It's going upwards. And a lot of these new builds come without cars, i.e. people will buy a £150k flat and be content to live and work without a car, which demonstrates change, and reinforces the point I was making about a transport system. A significant number of people are now choosing to live and work in Manchester and don't need the car. They needs a public transport system that is no longer choked up the car.

I live in the City centre, and there are couple of things that bother me a lot. One is the homeless. Another is the massive drop in numbers of people shopping. Not much anyone can do about that. The High Street is changing everywhere because of the Internet. If you are going to have a marks and Spencer, Selfridges, House of Fraser etc then you are will have them in Manchester City centre, but what will happen if these guys pull out? Perhaps they never will but this is one area of Manchester that is under a lot of pressure

 

[BatleyBlue]

Manchester City centre is about 2km in diameter if you use the inner ring road as its circumference. That's a pin-prick compared to London.

I think car users have a problem on match-day travel because Manchester is being actively designed to counter car use. However if you live in Manchester and you don't have a car it's never been better.

It's the approach to the City that's the problem, especially for night matches. The M56 is awful from about J7 and doesn't improve until I come off at Whalley Range. The alternatives just aren't worth it for me, they cost too much are infrequent or just won't get me home without having to leave early. This is just a general problem with the Northern rail system more than anything else.