I have had the chance to walk around Manchester City centre a lot over the last couple of months. I have found that there is still a lot of dense developments going up on the Manchester Salford border close to the River Irwell but elsewhere it looks like Manchester is coming towards the end of its building boom. There are still plenty of residential towers and office blocks going up but they look close to completion. There are some developments that I hadn't noticed at all that I have just found e.g. 100 Embankment near Manchester Cathedral. They have created a square like Castlefield Arena and built two large offices that look very smart.
I have noticed that Market St has had a complete change of use. It's now full of bank branches.
There are a worrying amount of vacant shops in prime locations such as Cross St / King St, and the business pages are full of restaurant groups going into liquidation.
The City centre is full of deliveroo drivers, centred largely around the takeaways (Kentucky Fried Chicken) on Deansgate. Not sure that the pedestrianised section on Deansgate has worked. The road is blocked off there but other than delivery riders, and the odd cyclist there are no pedestrians there. Of course there wouldn't be because most of the shops were shot. The test will come next week when the shops open. Sadly a lot of the restaurants down there will not be re-opening.
I've noticed that there are way too many coffee shops in manchester City centre. And they now have competition from Chinese/Korean teas as well.
I think there's going to be major casualties in the retail sector in the months ahead. House of Fraser, Debenhams and most of all commercial landlords are going to come under pressure. This isn't new of course. It's a trend that's being going on for years but where is it going. Can the commercial property sector survice when so many names are just disappearing from the High Street? Do not assume that another name will just come along and take their place because many of the shops in prime real estate in Manchester (Cross St, King St) are just lying empty.
I believe Intu properties own the Manchester Arndale. Just look at their share price over the last 3 years.
Some businesses in crowded sectors like restaurants have gone into administration in recent weeks. I think more will be holding on for the re-opening of the retail sector. if there is a 2nd wave of Covid, it will be devastating economically. Most attention has focused on the lockdown so far but Covid-19 is going to leave its mark on our streets as well.
