Plans in for Manchester’s £300m Great Northern transformation

Plans for a £300m scheme to transform one of Manchester’s most historic and strategically significant regeneration areas have been submitted.

Proposals for the transformation of the grade II listed Great Northern Warehouse, along with Deansgate Terraces and Great Northern Square have been submitted to Manchester City Council by the partnership that owns the site.

Since acquiring the Great Northern in 2013, Trilogy Real Estate and Hong Kong-based Peterson Group have been developing a series of proposals through a ten-year plan.

The designs propose to revive the Great Northern Warehouse by converting the upper three storeys to residential accommodation, while Deansgate Terraces will be renovated to create a retail street at ground level, with residences on the upper floors.

Across the site, public space will be increased by over 25%, from around 6,200sq m to 7,850sq m with pedestrian routes across the site.

Great Northern Square will be recreated into “an urban oasis” while the amphitheatre will be covered over, with a lawn placed on top and broad-leaved trees planted.

The plans have been drawn up by a team of consultants that includes masterplanner Will Alsop’s aLL Design, architect SimpsonHaugh, Altrincham-based landscape specialist Planit-IE and interior architect Johnson Naylor.

Robert Wolstenholme of Trilogy Real Estate said: “The Great Northern Warehouse and Square offer one of the most significant regeneration opportunities in Manchester city centre, and we have spoken to over 200 local stakeholders and residents to try to get this right. In particular, this process has shaped the character of the public space, where we aim to play our part in a city-wide initiative to bring trees and greenery into the heart of the civic centre.

“We’re restoring the historic character of the Great Northern, stripping away the modern structures that disfigure the historic warehouse and making sensitive interventions that are in tune with the quality of the site. Alongside our neighbours at St Johns, our vision is to regenerate this underperforming part of the city and create a new urban quarter that will add to Manchester’s building reputation as a world city.”

Further phases of the £300m transformation are currently in the early stages of consultation, with plans to deliver the project over the next ten years.