McGoff Group completes £85m Salford Development

The McGoff Group has completed Downtown, its £85m 374 Manhattan-inspired apartment development on the banks of the River Irwell in Salford, 14 months ahead of schedule. Located on Woden Street, the development was designed by Leach Rhodes Walker Architects and built by McGoff Construction, part of the McGoff Group.  Partners during the build programme included Heyrods and HE SIMM.

Right from the start, Downtown has been a huge success for the McGoff Group, with all properties sold off-plan. The range of one, two and three bedroom apartments, combined with its convenient location on the Salford and Manchester border, resulted in high demand for the properties from overseas investors, with the sales secured in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai through Alliance Property.  UK investors as well as owner-occupiers keen to reside at the city centre’s most desirable residential address also snapped up the apartments.

 

Phase I of Downtown (164 apartments) completed in April 2019.  Completions for Phase II are now underway for the remaining 210 apartments, with Manchester law firms Fieldfisher and Beyond Corporate both involved in the transactions.

Paul Danks, Group Sales Director at McGoff Group, comments: “Downtown has been an incredible success story for the Group, both in terms sales and the faster than anticipated build programme, which meant the development was completed approximately 14 months ahead of schedule. “Following the completion of Phase II, we are very much looking forward to our continued involvement in the residential asset management of this exciting building, ensuring our residents truly enjoy their stay at Downtown.”

 

Due to the success of Downtown sales, the McGoff Group established Downtown Asset Management (DAM) to oversee building management, lettings and property management, plus other services such as bespoke furniture packs.

Downtown is an iconic building in Manchester’s skyline featuring six statement blocks, interlinked, with each boasting a stunning exterior that has been cloaked with a glistening façade of gold coloured panels. The apartments have floor to ceiling windows offering outstanding views and a contemporary open-plan layout, with some benefiting from private terraces. The development offers high end hotel-style services including a lobby with 24 hour concierge, gymnasium, thermal suite, media room, postal room, private dining and business centre.  It also provides secure undercroft parking, landscaped grounds, residents’ roof garden and terraces.

Construction milestone celebrated at Downtown

With the concrete frame complete at phase one of Downtown, the McGoff Group celebrated this key milestone in the construction programme with a topping out event on the roof of the Woden Street development.

Joining the McGoff brothers James, Declan, Dave and Chris was the team from Wellesley, the development property finance specialist that has provided £39.9m funding to deliver Downtown.

Combining a successful construction schedule, with the build expertly executed and managed by multi award-winning McGoff Construction, and impressive sales with all 368 apartments sold, the build of phase two at Downtown will now start much earlier than planned.

Occupancy of phase one, which comprises 160 apartments, is planned for March 2019, and the early commencement of construction on phase two, which comprises 208 apartments, will start imminently.

Chris McGoff, director at the McGoff Group, says: “The success of Downtown has been superb both in terms of sales and construction and it was fitting to invite the team from Wellesley to the topping out event on the roof, giving them the chance to see the impressive progress made on site.

“Their continued support means we can start the build of phase two immediately, which means completion will be approximately nine or 10 months sooner than expected. With all apartments sold, the excellent design and prominent site of Downtown on the banks of the River Irwell have delivered a truly prestigious riverside residential development.”

Graham Wellesley, Founder and CEO at Wellesley, adds: “Downtown is a high-quality, aspirational apartment scheme and the impressive pace of sales fully supports this. Working with the McGoff Group on this project has been a pleasure and it was a privilege to attend the topping out event.

“Since 2007 property developers have found it increasingly hard to secure funding from banks and building societies. As a specialist alternative lender, we work hard to fill this gap, providing flexible lending packages that meet their needs.

“We also seek out opportunities across the UK, not just in London or the Home Counties, and Downtown is a wonderful example; a development with excellent design that will transform the landscape and revolutionise the Manchester property market with its Manhattan-inspired hotel-style services and high end communal facilities.”