City Developments nabs £76m Manchester PRS scheme

City Developments has expanded its UK private rented sector portfolio with the acquisition of 1NQ, a 261-home scheme in Manchester, for £75.6m. The Singapore-listed company acquired the asset through a forward-funding deal from Axis Real Estate. Construction of the project will commence this month and is expected to be completed in 2026. The site is located near Piccadilly station, along Tariff Street and Port Street in the Northern Quarter, within the Piccadilly Basin neighbourhood of Manchester. Planning permission was granted in October for two blocks, of 10 and 12 storeys, housing a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and two commercial units on the ground floor. 1NQ is the group’s fourth PRS project in the UK since 2019. City Developments’ PRS portfolio now comprises 1,648 operational and pipeline homes in Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester. In addition to its PRS projects, the company has close to 2,400 beds in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. Sherman Kwek, group chief executive at City Developments, said, “Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our PRS assets have shown resilience and strong growth potential. “We have continued to scale up our global living sector portfolio to drive growth in our recurring income. This year, our group’s global PRS portfolio has grown by almost 70% to 4,489 operational and pipeline units in the UK, Japan, Australia and the US, up from 2,640 units last year. “1NQ marks CDL’s first UK PRS acquisition under a forward-funding arrangement, which enables us to secure our investment at a fixed cost, manage our cash flows over the development period and benefit from potential capital appreciation.” To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews Discover which agents have been most active in Manchester so far this year >>