Great Northern scheme secures planning approval

Plans for two residential towers as part of the redevelopment of the six-acre Great Northern site on Deansgate have been approved by Manchester City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee today (16 February 2023).

Work will now start in early 2024 on bring the proposals by Trilogy Real Estate and Peterson Group to knock down the existing cinema and car park and build new offices within the iconic city centre Great Northern Warehouse as part of a mixed-use neighbourhood.

Councillors also approved Bruntwood’s proposals for a new £31m office building on the Siemens site at Princess Parkway which the developer claims will be the greenest in the UK.

The city centre Great Northern proposals, drawn up by architect SimpsonHaugh and landscape architect Planit-IE, will see the historic six-acre redeveloped with 1.5 million sq ft of office, leisure, retail and residential uses, and a city centre park with 156 new trees. 

There was some push back from Councillors regarding the potential closure of Great Bridgewater Street, and Councillor John Leech objected on the grounds that there is no provision for affordable housing.

Deansgate Terrace will also be restored as part of the scheme and 30,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space within the upper levels aimed at start-ups.

Three residential buildings with 746 apartments, two tall buildings of 27 and 34 storeys will replace the existing cinema and car park. 

Robert Wolstenholme, founder and chief executive of Trilogy, said: “A huge team has worked tirelessly and with huge passion for over 8 years to listen, design and refine to arrive at a proposed scheme we hope Manchester will proud of. There is much still to do and we will continue to work hard to bring to life what has been in our imaginations for so many years. We greatly look forward to continuing to build a community of the best of the north at the Great Northern.”

Also approved were plans for 65 homes to be built by Anwyl Homes in Chorlton.

But there was disappointment for McCarthy and Stone who had an application for a retirement complex in Didsbury rejected, and for McLaren Properties who had a bid to redevelop St Gabriels’s Hall of Residence in Victoria Park turned down.

Lidl’s plans for new supermarket in Chorlton Park were deferred.