Sevendale House set for refurb
ONE of the flagship buildings in Manchester’s Northern Quarter is set to undergo a £6m refurbishment to restore it to ts former grandeur.
Sevendale House, a Grade II-listed, six-storey building in Stevenson Square, is to be upgraded to provide quality office space if a planning application submitted to Manchester City Council is approved.
Sevendale House is owned by Philip J Davies (Holdings) plc. Director Mark Davies said that its long term plan for the building had always been to wait for several leases to expire to carry out a major investment that will restore some of its period features while providing modern office space.
A new reception area is being created on the ground floor and five upper floors are being converted into 61,500 sq ft of offices – each with floorplates of around 14,500 sq ft. Once complete, the building will have the capacity to house a further 700 office workers.
The 120,000 sq ft building dates from 1903 and occupies a prominent island site in the square. It has several retail and leisure operators on its ground and basement floor levels, including arts supplies firm Fred Aldous, the NoHo bar and the Copacabana nightclub. The landlord confirmed that it is looking to retain its current tenants whom it said would not be affected by the works.
“This is our first opportunity in twenty-five years to carry out the long awaited renaissance of this significant building which will also enhance the attractions of the Northern Quarter to office users requiring good quality space in a great location with competitive overheads,” said Davies.
“The Northern Quarter’s close proximity to Piccadilly and the business/financial core of the city gives us great confidence in terms of what we can offer here to augment Manchester’s office provision to companies of all sizes.
“Whether it is the creative industries that gravitate to this area or professional service companies that need cost- effective offices centrally situated, if this consent is granted, we are on target to provide this by March 2012.”
The company, which has a number of properties within its portfolio, was established over forty years ago by chairman Philip J Davies, who continues to play an active role in the business.
Dominic Horridge, building consultancy partner at advisors OBI Property, said: “On behalf of our client, we have worked closely with both Manchester City Council and English Heritage over the past months on this important application and believe we have their support and confidence in our client’s ability and commitment to deliver this project.”
He added that the firm had appointed a project team including architects Stephenson Bell, Crooks Walker Consulting and Tier Consulting to carry out the refurbishment.
Stephenson Bell partner Roger Stephenson said: “We believe this building is the embodiment of the spirit of the Northern Quarter past and present.
“Its refurbishment presents us with many challenges including the intention to reintroduce the original lightwell which Manchester City Council’s archive records show was part of its original design and planning consent.
“This will run from the first to the fourth floor of Sevendale House and ultimately provide the building with superb natural daylight to illuminate the office space we create.”
The planning application is due to be considered in early March.
