People have been given the first look inside what could soon be the 'hottest place to live' in Stockport, where people come from all over for a night out. On Saturday August 22, the new Capital&Centric development at Weir Mill will open up to the public for the first time, allowing them to see the major changes that have taken place in the area. Later this month, the first people will start moving in to what has been described as Stockport's 'hottest place to live'.
A New Destination Neighbourhood
Across the site's new and refurbished buildings, there are 253 apartments for rent, which will sit alongside a number of businesses including a riverside Italian restaurant, a wine bar that will be a 'UK first', a bookshop, and a bar focused on women's sports. Of the nine commercial units available to let, eight are already taken, with hopes the development will rival other Capital&Centric developments like Kampus in the heart of Manchester.
The development sits under the arches of Stockport's iconic railway viaduct, which will be used to host events throughout the year. The scheme has been driven by Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), a partnership between Stockport council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, as part of a £2bn regeneration of the town.
Bringing New Energy to Stockport
On a tour ahead of the site's grand opening, Micheala Meikle, the council's cabinet member for regeneration, told the Manchester Evening News the scheme will 'bring new energy into the centre of Stockport', adding: "Stockport is quite a divided borough and I am hoping it's going to bring new people in. We are eight minutes from the train station. We are hoping it's going to bring some footfall in here and I am hoping it will bring some entrepreneurial spirit back to this side of town. We have seen on the Underbanks how successful that was."
She added: "It feels really cool. I think it will be a really good mix. We have got one to three bedroom homes in here so it's going to be a really good mix of people. That's one of the driving ambitions is to get people living together because that's the only way we are going to get community. We don't want a soulless building with one type of person here. We want a real variety of people and interests."
A Kampus Vibe
Tom Wilmot, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, will also be opening up wine bar Bodega. He said: "We want to create a destination neighbourhood. We want people to say they want to have a night out at Weir Mill." He said they are looking to create a mixed community including families alongside young people and students, adding: "We do see this having a Kampus vibe. We designed this public realm for events. We put loads of services under the public realm and underneath the viaduct we have the space for a stage so we are going to do various events to activate it."
He added: "I think Stockport is a massive success story at the moment. I think it's one of the most exciting places in Greater Manchester at the moment so I'm hoping this is going to be a draw to Stockport, not just a draw within Stockport."
Capitalising on the Viaduct
A big feature of the development has been to capitalise on the huge historic viaduct looming over the entire site and the 'absolutely amazing' views that provides. Paul Richards, deputy chief executive at Stockport council, said: "It's absolutely huge. This is up there with the Interchange [bus station] as the next big thing. The scheme has been in gestation for six years now." He added: "People have seen this going on for the last three years and to finally finish and have residents and businesses move in, it's a really big thing for us."
