Recognition for this blog!

I've taken few, if any, steps to publicise this blog. I post links on my Twitter feed, and mentioned it on the Bluemoon message board in a thread that had disappeared from the main page within a very short space of time, but that's about it. So I was suprised, but pleased, to see it referred to in positive terms by Manchester Confidential.



The Grouch column in Manchester Confidential on 30 September was devoted to the potential development at Sportcity. This was referred to in the long threads on the topic onBluemoon and also on Skyscraper City, so immediately aught my interest.

I was surprised to see a reference to a "blog by Peter Brophy, a Mancunian solicitor living in Russia", but pleased nonetheless. Though I took a conscious decision to reach whatever potential audience there is for this stuff by word of mouth rather than trying to publicise it myself, it's good to know that there are people out there looking at it. And for it to be referred to as "very intelligent" is gratifying too.

The Grouch was particularly interested in what I said about Abu Dhaabi-based developer Mubadala as a potential development partner. He added, though he didn't take credit for doing so, to my comments about City chairman Khaldoon's role as Mubadala CEO by offering the following piece of information before going on to express views of his own:

Mubadala could be development partners on the site, largely due to the fact that its chairman is Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan – the owner of Man City.
Some of Mubadala’s projects are seriously big - Arzanah, a 1.4m sq m residential and mixed-use community development; Sowwah Island, the heart of Abu Dhabi’s new Central Business District; and the Mina Zayed Waterfront, a mixed-use leisure and entertainment district.

Whatever happens, it has to be big – not just to satisfy the council and the Manchester public, but to satisfy the owners themselves.

If I were a gambling man, I’d be tempted to suggest the end of the season for an announcement, to time with glory on the pitch – or make up for a season of disappointment.

Interesting stuff. In terms of the timing of the announcment, I would suggest that this book's publication date means that more detail could come out around that stage, though my hunch would be that we'll have heard something in outline before then. I fully agree, though, with the central hypothesis: that the folks back in Abu Dhabi wouldn't put their name to something at Sportcity of they didn't think it would refekcet well on them. And when you take a look at projects back in their homeland, that raises a very exciting prospect.