Manchester City’s huge £300m entertainment district next to the Etihad Stadium finally has a name. And when it opens later this year, it’ll be known as Medlock Square.
The development is part of the ongoing transformation of the Etihad Campus in East Manchester, the area that now combines the Etihad Stadium, the Co-op Live arena and a growing cluster of new hotels, attractions and hospitality spaces. When Medlock Square launches, the idea is that it won’t just be a place people pass through on the way to a match or gig — it’s being positioned as a destination in its own right.
The name comes from the River Medlock, which runs beneath the site and through much of Manchester’s historic industrial heartlands. It’s a small nod to the city’s past in a project that is very much focused on the future.
The square itself is designed as a year-round hub for culture, leisure and entertainment. At its centre will be a large covered activation space capable of hosting up to 3,000 people, intended for everything from live events and screenings to seasonal markets and pop-ups. The idea is that it becomes an active space throughout the week rather than only on big event days.
Food and drink will play a big role in that. Plans include a mix of speciality coffee spots, casual all-day dining and larger signature restaurants, alongside bars aimed at serving both everyday visitors and the huge crowds expected when events are happening nearby.
If you’ve ever left the Etihad or Co-op Live and thought the surrounding area could use somewhere to actually hang out, that’s essentially what this project is trying to solve.
Alongside the hospitality side of things, there will also be some more unusual attractions. One of the headline features is a sky walk experience that will take visitors high above the site with panoramic views across Manchester’s skyline. For anyone feeling a little braver, there will also be zip-wire and abseiling experiences, turning the stadium complex into something closer to an adventure destination than a traditional fan zone.
It’s a pretty ambitious mix of uses, but the thinking is that it will appeal to multiple types of visitor — match-going football fans, concert crowds from Co-op Live, tourists staying in the area and locals looking for something different to do.
Part of that visitor offer is already open. The Medlock Hotel, a new 401-room Radisson Blu, began taking bookings earlier this year and has reportedly already seen strong early demand. With Co-op Live now bringing major global tours to the area, and the Etihad continuing to host major football fixtures and events, the hotel gives the campus a much bigger accommodation base than it previously had.
Another part of the project is a new three-storey office building called One Medlock Square, designed to house around 300 workers. It will sit within the wider complex and include access to shared event spaces and wellness facilities, adding a more permanent daytime presence to an area that was historically busy mainly on matchdays.
The development also ties closely into the North Stand expansion currently underway at the Etihad Stadium. That work will add around 7,000 additional seats, taking the stadium’s capacity beyond 60,000, alongside new hospitality areas, a redesigned City Store and an immersive museum dedicated to the club.
Taken together, the stadium expansion and Medlock Square form a much bigger vision for the Etihad Campus – turning what was once simply a football ground into a much broader entertainment district.
Manchester has spent the past decade building a reputation as one of Europe’s busiest live entertainment cities, with huge investment in venues, culture and hospitality. Medlock Square looks set to be another big piece of that puzzle.
More details about the restaurants, attractions and events planned for the space are expected to be announced in the coming weeks ahead of its opening later this year.
