80s Shorts said:
There will be a phased, mixed-use development of the collar site. Not sure when plans will be announced but not before the summer, I'd guess. How many phases and what the final timescale is, I don't know. GX City is your man for that but whether he can actually tell us is another matter.
Basically, as far as I know (and I stand to be corrected) we're looking at an arena/conference facility, a visitor attraction that will draw in people from all over the UK and internationally, hotel space, retail outlets, food and drink, and commercial (office) space.
As I've posted more than once, but we're not looking at a 20K arena to compete with or replace the Arena in town. (People keep suggesting this but it isn't going to happen). Think more in terms of this: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.adnec.ae/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.adnec.ae/</a>.
As for the major attraction, City have actually had quite a lot of interest from people who were keen on a partnership for that site. The issue is finding one who fits with the vision of the club and its owner, who want this to make a statement about MCFC and its values (building a tie-in for the club with sponsorship and commercial opportunities too). Getting the right partner in recent years of economic downturn proved difficult and the club preferred to wait rather than rush into the wrong kind of partnership. As far as I know, a deal hasn't been inked yet (again, I stand to be corrected) but I would wager that it will be family friendly, with an educational slant and probably involving cutting-edge technologies. The latter fits with MCC's aim to drive Manchester forward as a high-tech centre, too.
There was talk of the office space housing the international headquarters of at least one big-name company, probably with Abu-Dhabi connections. I'm not sure how that's going, but there's certainly a desire for the development to bring real jobs (i.e. decent paying, permanent ones) to the area, which this aspect of the development is meant to achieve. (And those employees will be a magnet for leisure and retail facilities - along with the footfall from regular sports events, shows and concerts at a 7K arena).
In terms of the look, someone who'd seen or knew of the plans (I can't remember who) said on this thread that, overall, it's going to be more like Salford Quays than Vegas in terms of the concept and the look. However, the plans also show a lot of green space and they intend to make the most of the opportunity for canal-side developments.
As far as the wider area is concerned - the 200 acres plus owned by MCC and MCFC at and in the vicinity of the Etihad Campus - people should remember that as long ago as March 2010, fbloke stated that the model was Melbourne Docklands - see here: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.docklands.com/cs/Satellite?pagename=Docklands" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.docklands.com/cs/Satellite?p ... =Docklands</a>. In other words, we're talking about a mixed development, which started with a large sports facility being built and grew from there. It includes further development focused on sports, leisure, visitor attractions, retail, office space, media and technology. You'll see all of this in and around East Manchester in due course as a function of the MCFC/MCC developments.
To this end, the Eastlands Regeneration Framework published by MCC (you can get a copy here if you want - <a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/4502/eastlands_regeneration_framework" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/ ... _framework</a>) suggests that land currently occupied by the north car parks will be subject to commercial development in due course, as will land to the west of the stadium. The latter would, as the Framework document makes clear, entail the relocation of the Regional Athletics Arena, squash and tennis facilities. The Framework document suggests that these will go to the Beswick Sports Hub.
There will be other associated development, too. Look out for transport improvements part-funded via section 106 agreements as development of the campus moves on, for instance.
The expansion of the East and Colin Bell Stands, development of the land north and west of the stadium is developed, and all associated transport improvements are obviously not going to happen until the collar site has been developed in full, so I suspect that will be the agenda for the 2020s.