Salford City Council and the University of Salford have launched their search for a private sector partner to deliver the ambitious £800m masterplan for Salford Crescent.

Salford Crescent will see the University of Salford campus and the surrounding area “transformed into a new city district” that will include a modern residential neighbourhood, the redevelopment of the university campus, a new industry innovation park and a cultural quarter built around key heritage assets.

University of Salford vice-chancellor professor, Helen Marshall, said: “The Salford Crescent masterplan represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a partner to get involved in one of the largest mixed-use development schemes in the UK. It will see the creation of an inspirational campus that will create a natural home for industry - local, national and international, cultural partners, the people of Salford - and it will create a city district that will drive local and regional economic growth across a number of sectors from health, technology, the arts, biosciences, the environment and energy.

“It is a project that will have a lasting, transformative effect on Salford and the wider Greater Manchester city region. We are looking for a partner whose vision, ambition and creativity matches that of the University and the City of Salford.”

City mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett, said: “This masterplan is not just about development, it is about cultural development, placemaking and economic growth in the creation of a place where people will want to live, work, visit and study. With established and extensive parkland and soulful heritage assets, there is an unprecedented scale and depth of place-making and cultural ambition in Salford that defines this area.

“We are looking for a private sector partner who understands the unique social and economic impact that this development will have and who recognises the city’s ambition for inclusive growth and development which benefits the people of Salford. We will want to know they recognise and understand the unique social value opportunities afforded by these developments, local jobs and training as well as the supply chain and explain how they can best be delivered through inventive processes and partnership working. If it is done right we have an opportunity to drive the kind of development and approach to place-making here that could be a model across the world.”

The search for a prospective partner is being led by CBRE. Its head of planning and development, Ian Jenkinson, said: “This is a long-term development opportunity, but one with development plots ready to go.” 

A selection questionnaire and contract notice has now been issued, with a deadline for the return of expressions of interest by noon on Friday 14 June. There will then be a “short period of dialogue” between July and October with a select number of bidders, before a preferred bidder is identified towards the end of the year.

Click here to view the contract and bidding documentation for the project.