Bidders line up for former Royal Mail depot

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There is strong interest from developers and investors in buying the former Royal Mail depot on the A6 in Stockport, on the market priced at £1.5m.

The site is set to be turned into a mixed-use scheme containing hotel and offices. Ken Bishop, director at DTZ, the surveyor retained to sell the 0.6-acre site on behalf of Royal Mail, says a sale could go through within weeks. "Interest has been high and it is just a question of time before a deal is done."

While plans will depend on whoever buys the site, Bishop says it could hold a 60,000 sq ft office and mid-sized hotel.
Interest will be buoyed by the success of BAM Properties' St Peter's Square, where broadcaster Sky is creating 550 jobs having taken 23,500 sq ft.

A DTZ report to the council last autumn said the town centre needed an injection of new office space.

Bishop added: "The timing is difficult because the market conditions are not conducive to speculative development.

"Stockport needs in the region of 1m sq ft of new offices, the question is over what period of time. Over the next ten years we won't see the same level of development pipeline that we have seen over the past ten years."

Steve Burns, head of economic regeneration at the council, says BAM's product is seen as a test of the market and it will lead to further office building.

Burns said: "The new civic centre and BAM's St Peter's Square building are helping create a new commercial corridor along the A6 spine."

Rental tone in Stockport is currently £18.50/sq ft, around £10/sq ft below Manchester city centre.