The historic Manchester pub and iconic music venue that will be brought back to life now plans are approved

A historic pub in Hulme will be brought back to its former glory and become a social hub for music and culture again after a regeneration scheme has been approved.

Junction Hotel on Rolls Crescent will be brought back into use as a community hub following its closure in 2016 and be joined by a four-storey apartment block next door. The block, which will contain 24 one and two-bed apartments, will also have commercial space on the bottom floor. The hotel itself, thought to date back to around 1865, would be restored under the scheme and extended with two apartments on both the first and second floors.

Prior to its closure, the pub was popular locally for its live music nights, and these are proposed to be reintroduced, utilising the building’s cellar. The cellar will become a flexible space, able to host drama, lectures, seminars, and small conferences.

Under the plans put forward by Roost Architects on behalf of AlHargan and Zamil Limited, the upper floors will contain two apartments, with the second floor being restored after being lost in the 1960s due to a fire. These four apartments will bring the total number of new homes to 28 in the overall scheme.

“We propose to redevelop the Junction Hotel as a celebration of local arts, music and culture celebrated between the local residents, university and the surrounding students,” a design and access statement read. “We aim to help create a community of education and start-up businesses. 

“Students of the university and local residents can come together to grow their business in a space with like-minded people. We propose to build a residential development on the car park site in similar density and scale to the adjacent ‘Homes for Change’ residential unit across the road.  We see this working in tandem with the Junction Hotel Pub to form a new node of the community.”

There are 18 car parking/charging spaces planned for this development. The single-storey extension will be demolished as part of these plans. The hotel will be brought back to its ‘original grandeur’, the applicants have stated.