Stockport's new Mayoral Development Corporation is working on plans to deliver up to 1M SF of new commercial floorspace as part of a £1B regeneration of the town's west end.

The plan — the first time the Mayoral powers have been used in Greater Manchester and the first in the country focus on a town centre — aims to build the commercial floorspace along with new homes.

Stockport Council is consulting on a strategic regeneration framework which will use powers from the new Mayoral Development Corporation coming into effect in September.

The plan envisages the station facing both east and west (at present it faces east) including a new station building on existing sidings. This will open Grade A office development sites.

Muse and Stockport Council are already developing the next 60K SF office phase of Stockport Exchange speculatively. The six-storey block, part of the wider £145M scheme, will sit next to One Stockport Exchange.

The framework says high-density development will provide a lower-cost alternative for those attracted to Manchester city centre. The hub for commercial development will be Stockport Exchange, with a new public park to link the neighbourhood and connecting part of the town now divided by steep changes in level. The Station Quarter will be a high-density district to provide an alternative to central Manchester.

The Royal George Quarter will take advatange of older buildings for residential conversion.

The public consultation will run to Friday 6 September. The full document can be viewed here.