Developers behind Belfast scheme sell similar project in Manchester

The company behind a stalled redevelopment of a large part of Belfast city centre has sold a similar project in Manchester. Last week Castlebrooke said it was bringing forward new plans for its Belfast site between Royal Avenue and St Anne's Cathedral. The company had owned the CIS Tower in central Manchester for almost a decade, gaining planning permission to refurbish the 28-storey building. Last month it sold the building to the Manchester-based MCR Property Group. Aneel Mussarat, the founder of MCR, said the CIS Tower was "an asset with significant untapped potential that has been overlooked for many years". "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to breathe fresh life into a much loved but neglected property, creating a modern and sustainable future for the CIS Tower," he said. Castlebrooke bought the CIS Tower in 2017 and have been attempting to sell it as an "oven-ready" redevelopment opportunity for several years. This is the second time Castlebrooke have sold on a redevelopment scheme in central Manchester. In 2017 it sold the Landmark office site to Barings Real Estate. Last week it filed a pre-application planning notice proposing 1,000 new homes and two hotels as part