ING buys Manchester mills for £56m

DUTCH banking giant ING has bought four rundown mills in Manchester for £56m for conversion into 80,000 square feet of office and retail space and 312 upmarket apartments.

ING Real Estates, which has been helped by a grant of £8.8m from the North West Development Agency, hopes that the new Royal Mills complex will regenerate Manchester's dilapidated Ancoats district in a similar way to the revival of London's Docklands.