5 major developments set to change the face of Manchester city centre and where they're up to
The idea of a “skyscraper district” in Manchester city centre would have been almost unimaginable 20 years ago, when the first one, Beetham Tower, was completed. But that’s today’s reality.
It dominated the Manchester skyline for a while, but it wasn’t long before it was joined by others at Deansgate Square – which, like several other areas of the city centre, is set for even more development over the next few years.
The rapid development of Manchester is something that locals are both proud and wary of. On the one hand, it’s helping turn Manchester into a leading global city. But on the other hand, it’s changed the landscape beyond recognition, all while some of our treasured historic buildings are left abandoned.
Wandering around Manchester today, you’re bound to come across at least one construction site – our Town Hall is one of them. Last year, a report by conservation charity SAVE Britain's Heritage on the impact of Manchester’s development on historic buildings estimated that 27 towers up to 65 storeys have been built in Manchester since 2018, and around 70 towers either under construction or that have planning permission.
Here is an overview of some of Manchester developments due to be completed in the near future, including who is building them and what they will be used for.
St Michael’s
The £400m luxury hotel project is slated to become Manchester’s first completely net zero development. It is being built by Gary Neville’s Relentless Developments and Salboy Ltd, which was co-founded by Betfred’s Fred Done. W Hotels, part of the Marriott International group, will be operating the 162-room hotel with the 41-storey building, which will also include 217 apartments, as well as restaurants, office space and retail space.
It is set to be completed by 2027, but companies are already preparing to move in their offices once it’s finished. In fact, Relentless’ most recent deals with Pinsent Masons and Hill Dickinson have broken the company’s previous record of having the highest rent in Manchester, according to Place North West.
The project has faced a lot of criticism since it was announced in 2016, namely from conservation groups like Historic England and SAVE Britain’s Heritage, who raised concerns over the site’s location within a conservation area and the impact it may have on the surrounding historic architecture.
St Michael’s is located on the site of the former Bootle St police station, the facade of which has been incorporated into the building’s design. Original plans also included the demolition of the nearby Sir Ralph Abercrombie pub, which has since been saved. The city centre’s only synagogue was also sold to make way for the project.
One Port Street
The Northern Quarter is also on track to get its first skyscraper. The One Port Street project is being led by Select Property and will contain 477 luxury apartments, as well as a gym, fitness studio, a rooftop terrace, an undercover atrium garden, and an urban garden, as well as other communal spaces that can be rented out for work or social events. In March, the company announced that 90% of the flats had been sold.
The 33-storey project is set to be completed in 2025. Like St Michael’s, the project has also had its own controversy. Original plans for the skyscraper were rejected following strong complaints from residents about the height of the building. Eventually, the plans were approved after developers reduced the height of the building by one storey.
Square Gardens
Once completed, the Square Gardens development will become the UK’s largest co-living space. For many of the building’s future residents, amenities, such as kitchens and dining areas, will be shared communal spaces – which is why councillors were hesitant about its planning application at first – but it will also include traditional apartments and student accommodation. There will be 1,300 homes altogether.
As with most of these new city centre residential developments, the building also includes a gym, cinema room, co-working spaces, lounges, media rooms, a laundrette. As the name suggests, the development has 2.4 acres of green space. In total, Square Gardens costs around £400m and will be 45 storeys’ tall. Show apartments are already available to view at Square Gardens’ Acer Tower. It is being developed by Downing Living and set to be open by September 2024.
New Jackson
This is the aforementioned “skyscraper district” located on Great Jackson Street. This is a massive ongoing project that has so far seen the construction of Manchester’s tallest tower and surrounding behemoths at Deansgate Square. There will be 15 towers in total. The new neighbourhood already includes a host of popular restaurants and bars.
According to developers Renaker, we are already seven years into the 15-year project, with 3,000 homes already built, 988 under construction and a further 2,500 slated for the future. Creating that many homes also requires the provision of public services. The new school Crown Street Primary is set to open in September 2024 and there is also an NHS medical centre, health clinic and dentist on site. It also includes a smoke-free public park.
One of the next towers to be completed at New Jackson is Contour. The 51-storey tower has an almost eccentric range of amenities within it for residents to use, including a virtual driving range, a podcast studio and a dog spa. It is set to be completed by 2027.
Piccadilly East
Capital & Centric, the developers behind the creation of Kampus in the city centre and Weir Mill in Stockport, have been busy over the last few years developing the Piccadilly East area of central Manchester into a new neighbourhood, carrying on the tradition of neighbouring Ancoats, where former mills have been repurposed into apartments – including Crusader and Pheonix. The next one in the area to be completed is Neptune Mill, due to be ready by late 2024, and it will be mainly office spaces for businesses.
Elsewhere in Piccadilly East, CDL Hospitality Trust, which also owns the Lowry Hotel, is preparing to open its new residential building The Castings next week. It includes a gym, a private dining room and kitchen, a homeworking hub, residents’ lounge, rooftop and private terraces. There are 352 homes in total within it.