No room for Gateway House in HS2 plans
THERE is a question mark over the future of Realty Estates’ £35m redevelopment of Gateway House in Manchester after council proposals suggested it should be demolished to make way for a high speed rail terminal.
Architect Hodder + Partners has drawn up plans for the site and Realty has already struck a deal with London-based Max Serviced Apartments to run the converted building as a 182-bed apart-hotel.
The 1960s s-shaped building, which sits on the approach to Piccadilly Station, is now empty apart from retail units on the ground floor.
A planning framework drawn up for the Piccadilly Station area by the council shows the site of Gateway House as a terminal for high speed trains which will be arriving in Manchester in 2032 if the plan goes ahead.
The council wants this investment to trigger a massive regeneration around the station that will see the creation of 14.4m sq ft of new floorspace, including 6.7m sq ft of commercial, 4.3m sq ft of residential and 1m sq ft of retail and leisure facilities across 140 acres.
According to these plans Gateway will not only make way for the new station but also a new road running along the high speed viaduct that will link London Road, and the wider regeneration, with East Manchester.
Realty’s plan also includes a 40,000 sq ft seven-storey office block behind 
Gateway House and it is not clear from the council’s framework if this could be incorporated to proposals for more office space. Realty, which owns two other “gateway” sites – the former BBC base on Oxford Road and the former Boddington’s Brewery next to Strangeways – could not be reached for comment.
A council spokesman said: “The owners of Gateway House have been informed about the proposals under the HS2 Piccadilly strategic regeneration framework. We are set to start consulting on the proposals and will have further discussions with affected landowners once the outcome of the consultation process is known.”
This image shows the new terminal on land currently occupied by Gateway House.
