Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have chosen developers FEC, or Far East Consortium, to work on the site in Chester Road, Stretford.

The council has signed a joint venture with the Authority which owns the 3.57 hectare site, and selected FEC following a procurement process that began in 2022.

Plans are expected to be put forward in Autumn 2024 to build over 700 new homes on the site, including a 25% affordable housing allocation. It is also hoped the land will host a hotel, shops, offices and community facilities.

Greater Manchester Police have not occupied the site since relocating to a purpose-built facility in Newton Heath in 2012.

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“There is a shortage of quality and affordable housing in Trafford and we are totally committed to tackling this huge issue,” said councillor Tom Ross, leader of Trafford Council.

“The proposed development is part of our Civic Quarter masterplan which has given us a fantastic opportunity to develop local amenities, improve community use of the areas and to build more housing.”

The homes will also be designed to be low carbon intensive, as part of the council’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2038.

Gavin Taylor, managing director at FEC Manchester, added: “It’s incredibly exciting to be able to formalise our agreement with the council and GMCA so that we can get underway with delivering the new vision for this regionally important project.”