Construction work has begun on a £400 million mixed-use development at First Street in central Manchester.
Developer Downing’s own construction arm has begun work on the project, which will transform a derelict brownfield site close to Mancunian Way. They are carrying out groundworks to enable construction to begin in earnest in March.
The project will see three new towers rise up, the highest of them soaring to 45 storeys. Designed by local architects SimpsonHaugh, the scheme will provide another 2,200 apartments to the booming city centre market.
As these latest Mancunian skyscrapers emerge, building compliance companies will be required to ensure the structures meet all the rules of air and sound tests, as well as fire safety.
It is not the first project Downing has undertaken in this part of central Manchester, with 792 student apartments being provided in the River Street Tower, a building that is actually smaller than the originally planned tower that fell victim to the 2008-09 recession.
Project director George Tyson said: “We believe our plans will add to the vibrancy in and around First Street and act as a catalyst for other high quality regeneration projects, including the Oxford Road Corridor.”
Among the ground-level features of the development is more green space and vegetation, something the heart of Manchester sorely lacks despite plans for a new city centre park centred around the River Medlock at Mayfield.
This is in contrast with the supply of tall buildings, with this latest scheme adding greatly to the number being built in a city that has earned the nickname ‘Manchattan’.
Other high-rise developments on the way include planned new tower on the border of the Northern Quarter and Ancoats, which developer Select Properties originally intended to rise to 31 storeys, but now wants to reach 34 storeys above street level.
There have been some local objections about the height, but if it does go ahead it will add a further 485 apartments to the city centre.
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