Urban and Civic announce plans for Canal St Plot
The corner plot at Princess Street and Whitworth Street – opposite the New Union – is to be developed by Urban & Civic.
The developer has been granted a new planning permission for the site which has defied successful development for decades. U&C already had planning consents from 2014 and 2015 for 238 flats and a 148-bed hotel. They have now revised the original idea of the hotel and are to add more apartments.
The scheme is to be called Manchester New Square and will include three buildings of 11 to 15 stories around what they promise will be a “tranquil square.”
At ground floor Level there will be a mix of artisan restaurants and retailers, along with a residents gym.
Philip Leech, property director at Urban & Civic, said: “This is very good news for a site that has been vacant for a number of years.”
A start on site is expected this spring.
The site – one of the largest and last World War bomb sites in Manchester – has had a chequerred history since the old post office was demolished in the 1990s.
Until U&C bought the site in 2014 it had been in the hands of Irish developer West Properties. West's Origin development failed to get going, killed by the recession and the Irish banking crisis.
The site was eventually sold by the Irish government as a consequence of Ireland’s banking crisis. The West scheme, approved in 2007, would have seen a 171-bed hotel, 185 apartments and 60,000 sq ft of office space.Today developers reckon only apartments will work on the troubled site.
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By David Thame for Canal St Online.
Read MorePublished: 23-Mar-2017: (4174)
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