First images of new Manchester food hall and student halls planned for First Street

The first images of plans for a new food hall and student accomodation at First Street in Manchester city centre have been revealed. The Vita Group project is called House of Social and hopes to build on the success of the neighbouring arts hub HOME.

The food hall will be roughly the same size as Mackie Mayor, a popular city centre food hall, at 1,304sqm, with enough space for about 400 guests. The idea is that local independent food vendors will occupy the spaces in the food hall and grow their businesses from this new location.

While the food hall will be open to anyone, the rest of the development is focused on the city’s student population. In particular, the House of Social student halls are aimed at second and third-year students, who will be looking to move in with their already established friendship groups.

In total, there will be 576 beds, including 76 six-bedroom clusters, 24 five-bedroom clusters, of which 86 rooms will be “affordable.” The plans also include 24 accessible studio flats to cater for residents with additional needs.

Each flat will have an open-plan kitchen and lounge area, and each bedroom has an en-suite. The rooms will include both casual and formal study spaces, as well as storage. Some of the larger bedrooms will also have their own en-suite kitchen.

House of Social is a new brand for the Vita Group, which already owns student halls on First Street under their Vita Student brand.

Max Bielby, Chief Operating Officer for Vita Group, said: “We’re delighted to bring forward these exciting new plans for our new student brand House of Social, adding to the First Street masterplan and complementing our neighbouring Vita Student offering. House of Social is the student house re-imagined, bringing students together at the most important time in their life and giving them the opportunity to make life-long friends whilst excelling in their studies.”