ITV’s plans for Quay St site revealed

ITV is considering using the Coronation St set it is due to leave behind at Quay St as a tourist attraction.

A new report setting out the broadcaster’s long-term plans for the site ahead of its potential sale states that the broadcaster is investigating “whether any potential exists to develop a leisure attraction based around the existing Coronation Street set which is commercially viable”.

“This work must be completed before the long-term future of the set can finally
be determined,” it adds.

The broadcaster has been holding talks with Manchester City Council in a bid to prepare a regeneration framework for the 13-acre site, setting out future uses before it is sold. It currently contains the Coronation St set, remnants of the former Granada Studios tour and the Bonded Warehouse building.

The new framework envisages a mix of uses, including “two or three” high-spec large floorplate office blocks at Quay St facing Spinningfields and the proposed Central Salford Scheme.

It also suggests a refurbishment of the Granada House office block, which cound be converted within 18 months to provide affordable Grade B space, while the Eastern spine of the site could also be used as an extension of the John St area, providing more properties for the barristers’ chambers and consultant surgeons which operate from existing properties at the other side of the park.

The report is due for consideration by Manchester City Council’s executive this week. It suggests extending the John St area “has the potential to appeal to growing local businesses as well as new start-ups and inward investors”.

Moreover, although the site sits within the Castlefield Conservation Area, there are no historic buildings currently on the land so new high-end apartments could also be introduced to complement neaby schemes such as Rossetti Place, Left Bank at Spinningfields and Bauhaus. These “would help to facilitate the wider regeneration of the site and contribute towards the funding of essential high quality public realm and infrastructure”, it adds.

Other suggestions include improving links between the existing site and Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry, and bringing in new retail and leisure operators including family-friendly cafes to improve pedestrian flows through Spinningfields.