New owner prepares to build ‘second Beetham’

PREPARATION work to start building a tower for 430 homes, half a mile from its distinctive sister Beetham Tower has started.

Demolition is about to begin of the part-build multi-story car park on River Street, north of the Mancunian Way to make way for the new SimpsonHaugh and Partners-designed residential tower.

Bolton-based Forshaw Land & Property Group bought the River Street site earlier this year from the previous developers, Chelmer Developments, which obtained planning permission for the scheme from Manchester City Council at the start of 2013.

Instead of the serviced apartment scheme proposed by Chelmer, Forshaw will bring the development forward as a private rented sector scheme.

Forshaw has instructed the design team who worked on the original proposals to refine the scheme to better suit the requirements of the PRS market.

Design work is ongoing, but is likely to result in a reduction of the total number of apartments from 600 to around 430 and the provision of amenities that the occupiers of high specification PRS schemes demand.

Lyndon Forshaw, founder of Forshaw, said: “The demolition of the existing structure is an important milestone in this exciting project.

“We are liaising with local residents and businesses to ensure that the works are carried out in a considerate way. We look forward to sharing more information about the scheme in the near future.”

The existing concrete structure will be demolished in two phases. The majority of the structure will be brought down before Christmas with the last part coming down early in the New Year.

Following the completion of phase one demolition and enabling works, a start on site for the main construction programme is anticipated in mid-2016.

The Manchester-based team advising Forshaw includes AECOM, WSP and Turley.

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