Twin towers set for green light
A PLAN to build two towers just off Manchester’s Whitworth Street West is likely to be approved by the city council next week, despite protests from nearby residents.
CS Developments (Manchester), run by Daren Whitaker, has submitted plans for 282 apartments across two towers of 22 and 29 storeys on the banks of the River Medlock overlooking the railway lines that run into Oxford Road station. City Tower in Piccadilly is 30 storeys high.
The area is currently used as a surface car park and sits across Cambridge Street from the Percy Brothers Hotspur Press building which is on the edge of the First Street development.
A document prepared ahead of next week’s planning meeting shows the plan has angered many people living in the apartments further up Cambridge Street, particularly in the Chorlton Mill complex.
The council has received 44 objection letters and 90 residents at Chorlton Mill have signed a petition. Most of the complaints relate to the scheme’s size and design, and its impact on light and views. Several refer to CS Developments as a “profiteering developer”.
The council’s planning officers disagree and state: “The proposals would result in the regeneration of a previously developed, vacant, brownfield site with a landmark development which would compliment adjacent regeneration initiatives.
“The site does benefit from planning permission for a high density residential apartment scheme and commercial uses. The development would be in keeping with the aspirations of the emerging Residential Growth Prospectus. The site is located in a highly accessible and therefore sustainable city centre location whilst ensuring a form of development that responds to its context and local
environmental issues.”
Mr Whitaker, who runs Renaker Build, already has permission for 497 apartments in 31 and 19-storey towers next to the River Irwell in Salford through another company called Pinnacle Developments (NW). He has also submitted plans for nearly 500 flats in several towers next to the Campanile Hotel off Regent Road in Salford.
The architect on the Cambridge Street scheme is Hodder & Partners and the planning adviser is Deloitte Real Estate. The planning committee will meet on June 26.
