Will Manchester Council OK A 25-Tower Skyscraper Cluster?
Manchester City Council leaders are to consider giving the final stamp of approval to a framework allowing a 25-tower cluster of skyscrapers to go ahead.
Documents submitted to the council’s cabinet suggest that only small changes to the framework need to be made, following a public consultation, meaning the scheme is on the brink of being given full consent.
Plans for Great Jackson Street — between Deansgate station and Hulme — include 6,000 new homes and more than two dozen towers, seven of which are more than 40 storeys tall.
Plans for the site are being pursued by Renaker Build with three further towers of 36, 26 and 18 stories proposed by DeTrafford Estates.
Today Manchester has just five towers over 300 feet tall, with another five under construction. The latter includes the 64-storey apartment block at Owen Street, near Great Jackson Street. The tower is 658 feet tall and is developed by Renaker.
A report to Manchester’s cabinet — due to be discussed on Wednesday 10 January 2018 — rejects concerns about the increased traffic flow caused by 6,000 new homes at Great Jackson Street, and that the wrong mix of housing will be provided. The document states that no more than one-third of apartments can be one-bed.
However, the report recommends amending the area's strategic regeneration framework to provide more facilities. It states: “The SRF will be amended to reflect the provision of amenity facilities at street level within the framework area. The SRF now indicates that a range of ground floor uses are to be provided to support the residential community which in line with demand could include community, gym, health and child care facilities in addition to retail and leisure uses.”
The report also says that an agreement will be developed between the landowners within the area and the City Council to establish the maintenance strategy for the public realm and highways.
Today the Great Jackson Street area is dominated by surface level car parking and light industrial units.
