Property Alliance Group and Starwood Capital acquire prime city centre site

Renaissance Manchester site to be redeveloped into £200m mixed-use scheme

A joint venture comprising Property Alliance Group and Starwood Capital Group has acquired the Renaissance Manchester site from Urban & Civic for an undisclosed sum.

Located on Deansgate and adjacent to Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Manchester Cathedral, the prime city centre site currently includes a 206-bedroom hotel, car park and office building. The joint venture is now drawing up plans to redevelop the site into a £200m mixed-used scheme including a new hotel, office space, car park and residential units.

Timothy Abram, Vice President at Starwood Capital, said: “We have made several major investments in Manchester over the past decade and, following on from these successes, we are excited to have another opportunity to invest in the city. The redevelopment of this prime site has the potential to generate many economic benefits for Manchester and we hope this will be the first of many investments made through our new joint venture with Alliance.”

Alex Russell, Managing Director of Alliance, added: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the Renaissance Manchester site and our new partnership with Starwood Capital.

“Starwood Capital is a likeminded partner that shares our vision and commitment to deliver this development. Our complementary skill sets and combined real estate experience, including Starwood Capital’s unique hospitality track record, means we are well positioned to deliver a landmark scheme that will regenerate a key part of Manchester.

“We will now be working closely with Manchester City Council to develop our plans with the aim of presenting these over the coming months.”

The joint venture’s plans for the development will aim to reduce waste and emissions during the construction phase.

Mr Russell continued: “We are committed to helping make Manchester a zero-carbon city by 2038 and that will mean more environmentally-friendly construction practices across all our schemes, including the redevelopment of this site. We are developing a sustainable design and the majority of the existing building will be re-used or re-purposed.”

CBRE acted for Starwood Capital and Alliance on the acquisition. JLL and Savills advised Urban & Civic on the sale.

Alliance was advised on legal matters by Shoosmiths and law firm Paul Hastings acted for Starwood.