Manchester gives green light for new pop-up space

Leading property company Bruntwood has been given the green light from Manchester City Council for its new retail and leisure pop-up space to open under the Mancunian Way on Oxford Road in Manchester.

‘Hatch’ will occupy the space under the city’s flyover, offering a range of pop-up and semi-permanent retail units, similar to other pop-up schemes such as Boxpark in London.

The idea is for ‘Hatch’ to attract aspiring entrepreneurs and established traders looking to try something new, with added flexibility in unit size and term length.

The scheme will transform the vacant courtyard area adjacent to Manchester Technology Centre at Circle Square, Manchester’s new city centre neighbourhood, which comprises of more than 1 million square foot of commercial office space, 1,281 new homes, and 100,000 square foot of retail and leisure space.

Hatch is due to open in December and has already signed up independent coffee house, Takk, which will set up two 1,000 square foot units on the site, an espresso bar alongside a nano brewery and bar called Öl.

James Tootle, retail surveyor at Bruntwood said: “Now that Hatch has been granted planning permission we are excited to bring it to life at Circle Square. We look forward to welcoming Takk and Öl to the scheme and invite other operators, innovators and start-ups, to get in touch.

“Hatch will be the first step in providing a boost to the existing retail and leisure offer on the Oxford Road Corridor and transforming this area into a destination for people to visit.”

Image: courtesy of Bruntwood