No Trouble At This Mill As City Centre Developer Gambles On Stockport

Capital & Centric, the Manchester developer behind a wave of city centre mill redevelopments, is to take a chance on Stockport.

The business created by Adam Higgins and Tim Heatley will transport Stockport’s historic Weir Mill as part of Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation’s ambitious plans for the town centre.

The £60M project is one of the first to come forward under the corporation and is backed by £7M of Housing Infrastructure Fund investment from Homes England.

There will be 250 apartments in the Grade II-listed building, which dates from the late 18th century. No decisions have yet been taken on the mix of build-to-rent or built-for-sale tenures.

The move to Stockport comes as developers eye the growth potential of out-of-centre schemes where competition is more limited, land prices are low and the prospects for rental growth good. Stockport and Bolton have been tipped by observers who point to Manchester's outer boroughs as the focus for growth.

The new scheme will incorporate a frontage onto the River Mersey, opening up public access to the waterside. There are also plans for ground floor commercial spaces complementing the residential offering, including café-bars, delis and independent shops and surrounding courtyards and green spaces.

The Weir Mill site will be adjacent to a brand new £120M transport interchange. A planning application is expected later in the year.

The UK’s first Mayoral Development Corporation, Stockport MDC, was launched by Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham in 2019. The aim is to deliver 3,500 new homes and 1M SF of new commercial floorspace.

Capital & Centric projects have been heavily concentrated in Manchester city centre. Projects include the co-living- and coworking-led redevelopment of the Ducie Street Warehouse, the build-for-sale redevelopment of Crusader Mill, and Kampus, a build-to-rent scheme close to Canal Street.