Mulbury Homes £30m apartment block gets green light

PLANNING permission has been granted for Mulbury Homes’ £30m block of 134 apartments in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
 
The eight to 14-storey development on the corner of Port Street and Great Ancoats Street will be Mulbury’s first in the private rented sector (PRS).

The scheme, which is also close to the revitalised New Islington area, was given the green light at Manchester City Council’s planning committee.

Lymm-based Mulbury is currently in discussions with several institutional investors interested in purchasing and letting the properties upon completion. The development has been designed by Manchester-based Tim Groom Architects.

Martin Bury, a director of Mulbury, said: “This development will make a significant contribution to the regeneration of this part of the city, as well as being a flagship scheme in Manchester’s private rented sector. We’re pleased this scheme has had such widespread endorsement and look forward to breaking ground early next year.”

The development is the first for the company’s recently launched Mulbury City division which focuses on developing city centre and PRS schemes that are backed by institutional investors, private investors and overseas markets. Mulbury has plans in the pipeline for further developments in Old Trafford, Castlefield and Salford.

The 134 apartments at Port Street will range from 400sq ft studios through to 900sq ft three-bedroom apartments. All apartment types meet the newly adopted London Design Guide Space Standards making them around 10 per cent larger than many of the apartments currently on offer in the marketplace.

The ground floor includes reception and lobby areas as well as 6,000sq ft of commercial office space.  The upper level apartments enjoy views of the city with balconies for all units and extensive communal roof top gardens facing South West.

Tim Groom, director of Tim Groom Architects, said: “Gaining planning approval on Port Street is a significant step for the growing resurgence of Ancoats. We worked hard on the design to help knit back together what has become a disjointed and, in places, run down street scape.  

“For our practice it is also great be working on such large scale developments in our home city and developing a close working relationship with Mulbury Homes and Manchester City Council as we look at further projects.”