MANCHESTER, England, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The northern

English city of Manchester on Friday opened the first phase of a

1.7 billion pound ($2.3 billion) hub for science and technology

companies, part of a large-scale project driven by university

and private sector investors.

The 'Sister' innovation district on the University of

Manchester's former city centre North Campus envisages 2 million

square feet (186,000 square metres) of commercial space and

1,500 new homes, and aims to boost the city's status as a

science and technology centre.

University cities like Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester have

been creating environments where investors can be on hand to

partner with startup companies, a trend Britain's new Labour

government wants to continue to attract more private investment

to help upgrade the country's public services and

infrastructure.

The 15-year project Sister project is a joint venture

between the University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech, a

development company owned by property firm Bruntwood, Legal and

General ( LGGNF ) and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, and

will see a total investment value on completion of 1.7 billion

pounds.

The first tenant, climate tech investment company

Sustainable Ventures, moves into the site's Renold Building this

November.

"This is a significant moment for Manchester," said Bev

Craig, leader of Manchester City Council.

Sister forms part of the government-funded Greater

Manchester Investment Zone, which uses 160 million pounds of

public money to help attract businesses to the city over the

next decade.

Sister said it will announce plans for its first major

development zone soon.