Aviva Investors has scooped its biggest Manchester investment yet with a long-term funding partnership for the £1.25B St John's neighbourhood.

The global asset management business of Aviva will initially commit £300M to the 1M SF Enterprise City element of the project, built on the site of the former Granada TV studios. It is intended to be one of the U.K.’s leading digital, media and enterprise clusters.

The development has already attracted technology giant Booking.com, which will be the anchor tenant at Enterprise City, taking 220K SF at the Manchester Goods Yard buildings.

The deal adds to an Aviva Manchester real estate portfolio of almost £450M including the forward-funding of the 85K SF redevelopment of Eleven York Street, Manchester, the first office-led development in the 'Square Half Mile' historic office district in more than a decade.

“This deal is fully aligned with our focused investment strategy and demonstrates our scale and expertise to fulfil large, conviction-led investments in high-quality real estate assets," Aviva Investors Managing Director for Real Estate Investments Daniel McHugh said.

Manchester City Council approved planning permission for the Old Granada Studio development in May. The revised application supported Allied London’s plans to retain and refurbish the original television studios as well as incorporating new workspace elements.

A new nine-storey mixed-use building will replace the old annex building and consist of retail units, workspace and residential space. Redevelopment of the Bonded Warehouse and the ABC buildings is also well underway, with new occupiers expected to take up workspace later in 2018.