Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site

[jrb]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

100% sure the location is not the Etihad Campus or the surrounding area. Shame really, as this is the kinD of company along with the jobs it provides that would benefit Beswick and the surrounding area.

MEN.

UKFast announces plans for 30-acre site
5 Mar 2013 05:40

Manchester IT firm UKFast today revealed it plans to create a new 30-acre base in the east of the city.


The launch of a new headquarters forms part of its wider expansion drive, which includes plans to double its workforce to 400 people by 2014.

Founder and chief executive Lawrence Jones added would not reveal the exact location of the building at this stage.

But he said: “In the longer term we have options to develop a UKFast campus on a 30-acre site east of the city, on the M60 motorway. That will be our home for growth.

“There are cheaper places to buy property than Manchester, but none are better connected. You can serve the entire UK from here.

“The people who are making money from the internet these days are all based in Manchester.”

Mr Jones said UKFast hoped to build a series of extra data centres in the Manchester area.

It has options on a site near Manchester airport, and is looking at additional locations.

Mr Jones added: “Ideally we would like lots of smaller data centres because it spreads risk and clients like their data in different locations.

“Until now, we’ve taken office blocks, and stripped out the insides, but that is incredibly expensive. So we are now thinking about taking big sheds, warehouses, and also have options to build underground.”

UKFast currently has its headquarters at City Tower, Piccadilly. The company has already invested £20m in Manchester property.

In January, it bought a 40,096 sq ft building at No1 Archway, Hulme, in a £3.2m deal with Laing O'Rourke. The building will be converted into a data centre for internet servers.

Mr Jones said: “Looking ahead 12 months, we are talking about sites of 20,000 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft and larger. We are getting ready for a bigger game.”

<br /><br />-- Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:22 pm --<br /><br />At last, some positive news about the proposal. :)

MEN.

Belle Vue Aces step closer to new stadium
5 Mar 2013 10:46

Belle Vue hoping to be in new home for 2014.

The green light is flashing for Belle Vue’s long awaited new stadium to be given the go-ahead.

Eddie Smith, chief executive of New East Manchester Ltd, revealed last night the £6m Belle Vue Sports Village complex will be on the agenda at the next meeting of Manchester City Council’s executive committee.

Smith said: “We have been on a very long journey trying to find a way forward for a new stadium for the Aces. David Gordon and Chris Morton have done a fantastic job to keep this great institution alive and kicking.

“Commercial negotiations aren’t easy at the best of times and these are not easy times. Getting things financed is a challenge and this has taken a little longer than we would have liked.

“We have reached a point where, in the next few weeks, we will be making a recommendation to the City Council that there is a commercial deal which will underpin a new stadium.

“We will be putting in a recommendation to the politicians to that effect.

“With a fair wind and the blessing of the city council we’ll move from an amber light to a green light.

“We have to go through a planning process and cannot pre-empt any decision that might be made.

“Hopefully, this can be seen as good news for Manchester and Belle Vue with international events coming here.”

It is almost six years since Aces’ chief executive David Gordon and chief operations officer Chris Morton started the ball rolling and the club were informed before last night’s scheduled fans’ forum that the final approval will be on the council agenda.

Belle Vue are anticipating the committee will approve the project at that meeting so they can go for planning permission and then the normal construction programme can begin. The Aces are targeting an opening date for the start of the 2014 season. A cautious Gordon said: “We’re not there yet. But the fact the project will be on the agenda to go forward to the executive’s meeting for approval is a massive step in the right direction.

“It seems six years of very hard work and commitment are about to get the go-ahead and that’s great news, even though there is still a great deal of work still to be done.

Significant

“We have been negotiating a robust commercial agreement with the council for some time and it seems we are almost there at last.

“This is one of the most significant and important decisions in the history of Belle Vue speedway, certainly the recent history since the club left Hyde Road stadium.

“We are on the threshold of a new era for Belle Vue.”

Gordon and Morton first discussed the idea of leaving Kirkmanshulme Lane for a new stadium back in 2006 and it was a powerful part of their decision to take over the club.

They opened negotiations with Manchester City Council, who own the land, and the project was kept secret until 2010 when M.E.N. Sport broke the story.

Belle Vue have been given official approval for it to be the National Speedway Stadium by the British Speedway Promoters’ Association and it will also be the National Academy which, with planned workshop facilities, will bring through young racing talent and also train youngsters as mechanics.

The Aces have also been allocated World championship events by the International Motor Federation (FIM) which will benefit the local economy and provide jobs by bringing visitors to Manchester.

The Sports Village is essentially a community project with speedway, basketball and Rugby League planned as well as many other community-based events.

The land for the project is next to the Aces’ current home at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane.

It was used for the hockey competition in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

 

[Oystercatcher28]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

SportCity/Etihad Campus needs an Ice Dome. Bring Phoenix home and capture Manc Giants from Wright Robby too.

 

[simonmdm]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

Great news about the belle vue speedway stadium. It seems to have been going on for so long now with delay after delay so I'm not counting any chickens just yet.

 

[Wilmslow Road]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

Perhaps that is just an idea of the Speedway Stadium, but if not why only one stand.
I am sure they would like to attract International meetings and get back to the old days
when they were a top team, not with that stadium.
We live in Manchester not Miami, it needs at least another covered section.
And it is always cheaper to do it at the outset when you have the builders in.

 

[Why Always Ste]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

SportCity/Etihad Campus needs an Ice Dome. Bring Phoenix home

This. All Day.

I remember as a kid going to watch The Storm at MEN, and it was packed out, 20,000 or so people watching Ice Hockey.

I'd go and watch it, Altrincham is a trek.

Be cool if they played in Sky Blue aswell :-D

 

[simonmdm]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

Perhaps that is just an idea of the Speedway Stadium, but if not why only one stand.
I am sure they would like to attract International meetings and get back to the old days
when they were a top team, not with that stadium.
We live in Manchester not Miami, it needs at least another covered section.
And it is always cheaper to do it at the outset when you have the builders in.

They are also going to have temporary stands for the international meetings taking the seated attendance up to about 12,000 if i remember correctly. I'd prefer to stand on one of the banked corners anyway! Sadly speedway isn't what it once was in this country so there's not a huge demand for seats and if its anything like it is at the greyhound stadium (it shouldn't be as it would be a purpose built speedway stadium) the slightest bit of ran makes them call the meeting off and on occasions last season, there we meeting called off even though there hadn't been rain for days! So in that respect I don't think a roof is that necessary especially with it being a summer sport. It also means the stadium will cost less which is music to the owners ears.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

SportCity/Etihad Campus needs an Ice Dome. Bring Phoenix home and capture Manc Giants from Wright Robby too.

I might have got this wrong, but I'm sure I heard a rumour Reddish Vale was being expanded and that was going to be the new home of the Giants.

 

[somapop]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

SportCity/Etihad Campus needs an Ice Dome. Bring Phoenix home and capture Manc Giants from Wright Robby too.

I might have got this wrong, but I'm sure I heard a rumour Reddish Vale was being expanded and that was going to be the new home of the Giants.

I did have my money on a home on the Etihad campus - this smaller arena which has been discussed over the last few pages, and [somehow] linked with City (as with Barcelona).
Also ties in with the wholescale sports area the council (and NEM) were talking about a year or so back (Corridor of Olympians and National sports HQ's). Perhaps another pipe dream...

Did see this yesterday, which although at the arena in town, demonstrates the city can attract such events in the sporting calender:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/basketball-nba-comes-to-manchester-8521761.html

Basketball: NBA comes to Manchester

American pro basketball will be stage in Manchester for the first time as the Philidelphia 76ers play Oklahoma Thunder in a global eight-team NBA pre-season tour.

The 76ers will play Thunder on 8 October at the Manchester Arena, while pre-season fixtures will also take place in Turkey, Spain, Philippines, China, Taiwan and Brazil. The other sides taking part in the tour are the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Golden State Warriors, the Chicago Bulls, the Florida Fred Wests and the Washington Wizards.

 

[Oystercatcher28]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

It's a great addition for Reddish Vale if the NW Regional basketball centre gets the Giants - but it is exile. It is not Manchester.

I'd love to see us more in line with FC Nurnberg, HSV etc that have a full and cross sports policy.

 

[simonmdm]

Re: Etihad Campus & potential new stadium

Does anyone know if there's any plans to do anything to the regional athletics stadium at the ground? I'm not a huge athletics fan so I don't know much about it but it would be nice if we could get more national and international events happening there but I feel they'd need to add more seats for that to happen. Like I said, I don't know a lot about athletics so the seats that are already there might be enough for the bigger events.