Legal & General invests money in Salford Central scheme and also sees 1000-home Bracknell scheme win planning

 New Bailey scheme, Central Salford

New Bailey scheme, Central Salford

A major regeneration scheme in Salford has been boosted by a £60m investment by Legal & General’s property arm.

Public private partnership English Cities Fund (ECf) said today it had agreed the terms of the deal with L&G, covering the 1,000-home Salford Central scheme.

The money will fund a 125,000 sq ft office building and a new multi-storey car park in the New Bailey area of the project.

The first of these to start, the nine-storey 615-space multi-storey car park, will start on site this month and is targeted for completion in December.

Bill Hughes, Managing Director of Legal & General Property, said:  “This is a significant investment in Salford and one that we believe will help to kick start the City’s wider regeneration.  We believe that ECF’s plans for Salford Central will not only fundamentally reposition this city centre location, but provide much needed homes, jobs and office, retail and leisure space, as well as the improved infrastructure to support the city going forward.”

In a separate development, L&G has secured planning permission on its plans in Bracknell, Berkshire, for a 1,000-unit housing scheme masterplanned by PLP Architects in Crowthorne.

Arranged over 250 acres on the former Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) brownfield site, the area was allocated for homes by Bracknell Forest Council in its local plan last summer.

PLP’s project also includes a primary school, a community centre and more than 100 acres of public open space.

Ron Bakker, founding partner at PLP Architecture, said: “We are delighted with this result; a positive outcome of an intense and thorough masterplanning process, carefully balancing new development with conservation of the natural surroundings.”