New EventCity venue gets planning approval in UK

Plans submitted by then UK’s EventCity to build a brand new £20m venue in Greater Manchester’s TraffordCity have been approved, 14 February. The application, submitted in September 2019, proposed the creation of a bespoke events venue which would allow the business to be even more flexible when hosting conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners and meetings. The purpose-built facility, due to open in Spring 2021, will see a multi-million-pound investment by its owners, Peel L&P. At 23,700sqm, the enhanced offering will cater for a range of events and will be more malleable, allowing for areas to be divided off with acoustic walls, so multiple events can take place at any one time. The venue will include updated features, such as a central foyer with breakout space and a reconfigured entrance. The venue will be built on the Soccerdome site in TraffordCity. The new Metrolink, due to open in Spring 2020, will be a seven-minute walk from the new location. On the approval, Neil Lees, acting chief executive at EventCity and deputy chairman of the Peel Group said: “We are thrilled to have gained approval, so work can commence on the new EventCity. The venue will be a fantastic addition to the TraffordCity offering, creating even more reasons for people to visit and experience the ever-evolving area. “We are determined to offer only the very best experiences for both clients and visitors and we’re confident the new venue will deliver exactly that, providing the perfect blank-space venue no matter the type, scale or size of your event.” With the doors to the new venue set to open in Spring 2021, the current EventCity will remain in operation until then. Work will commence at the new site immediately, with EventCity and Peel L&P entering a new, long-term lease of 25 years. Subject to planning approval the current site of EventCity on Barton Dock Road will become the first health and wellbeing resort of its kind in the UK – Therme Manchester, taking up 28 acres of space. The project will be funded by EventCity parent company Peel L&P, an infrastructure, transport and real estate investment group, which developed most of what is now the TraffordCity area. Peel L&P are delivering the landlord works with EventCity undertaking the required fit out, relinquishing its lease of the existing site in favour of an extended lease of 25 years at the new site.