Kampus partners plan to roll back the years
A PLAN to re-open a street in Manchester to the public known as Little David Street – closed off decades ago – has been hatched by joint venture partners.
Captial & Centric and Henry Boot Developments acquired several buildings on a 2.3 acre (0.93 ha) site from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2014.
The university has occupied buildings on the site for the past 100 years which is one of the biggest regeneration sites in the city centre.
As part of the new £150m Aytoun Street scheme, named Kampus, the developer plans to build a whole new ‘district’ in Manchester.
The plans include around 500 apartments, hotels and leisure space. A new image released by the joint venture shows Little David Street re-opened offering its old cobbles as a new thoroughfare of artisan bars and independent new restaurants.
Thought to be one of the only untouched and original cobbled streets in Manchester, Little David Street also benefits from Grade II listed buildings Minshulls Mill and Minto & Turner on either side, giving a glimpse of how Manchester looked 150 years ago.
The rest of the site currently has an eclectic mix of architecture, exhibiting modernist, brutalist style and 19th century mill buildings.
The joint venture submitted a masterplan and strategic regeneration framework to Manchester City Council in March and the Council has now taken the proposals out to public consultation.
Adam Higgins of Capital & Centric said: “The philosophy at Kampus is to deliver nothing but the best in architectural design. It’s by doing this that we can create a new destination, community and an entirely new offer for city centre living and trading. Our ethos is that we don’t do ordinary.”
Adam Brady of Henry Boot said: “We’re not looking to create another Northern Quarter, Spinningfields, Shoreditch or anywhere else here. Kampus will be a distinctive sub-district with its own individual vibe”.
