New 40-storey tower planned for Manchester

CHELMER Developments has embarked on an ambitious scheme to transform a part-finished concrete frame overlooking the Mancunian Way into a 40-storey tower containing 600 serviced apartments.

The company has appointed Ian Simpson Architects to design the building, which will also contain a serviced business centre with meeting rooms, a retail unit, lobby and reception area, cafeteria and a gym.

The tower, based on a site of around two-thirds of an acre at River St, will be one of the tallest buildings in the city if it gains the necessary approval and financing.

It will contain a series of serviced apartments on upper floors ranging in size from one-bed to four-bed units. Communal lounges will also be built throughout, along with covered terraces, a roof garden and space for laundry and storage.

Just 20 car parking spaces are proposed for the 600 apartments, but the developer has said that since its target market will consist largely of short-stay business professionals it expects low levels of car ownership/usage.

“We also plan to promote sustainable travel options, encouraging people to make use of public transport facilities, as well as pedestrian and cycle routes in and around the city centre,” Chelmer Developments said.

The firm is being advised on the scheme by GVA. Other members of the project team include consulting engineers WSP and quantity surveyors Davis Langdon.

A public consultation exercise has already begun and the project team responsible are planning to hold a public exhibition to show off the tower plans at Jury’s Inn on June 11. Following this, Chelmer Developments plans to submit a planning application to Manchester City Council by the end of June.

A briefing pack prepared for stakeholders states that the building “has been designed to provide a striking and elegant impression which responds to its position as a high-profile building located on a key route into the city centre”.

It said the building would replace the part-built “eyesore” that had occupied the site since 2005 and “enhance a key gateway into the city”.

Some 80 permanent posts will be created at the site once the building is complete.

Chelmer Developments also said that the building’s construction could act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area, and develop a new “flexible living” concept for Manchester, where professionals simly let space on a short-term basis.

“By serving the needs of a wide range of potential residents, the development would contribute to the city’s wider economic growth,” it said.