A stalled project to build three towers near Piccadilly Station is set to finally be finished - with major changes - three years after construction ground to a halt.
Building work on the 27, 21, and 16-storey towers stopped in May 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If completed, the Echo Street development would have provided 242 student bedrooms and 642 Co-Living bedrooms, aimed at students and 'young professionals'.
New planning documents now show developer IQ Student Accommodation has revised its proposals, focusing solely on the university market. The design of the towers will stay close to the original plans, but increase by one storey each.
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“The scheme still comprises the visual aesthetic of three blocks stepping up in height towards Piccadilly Station, joined together by two intermediate linking blocks at lower heights,” a planning statement from Sheppard Robson, written on behalf of IQ, said. “The change to purpose-built student accommodation is a commercial decision, informed by prevailing market conditions, and in response to the significant need and demand for high quality purpose-built student accommodation within Manchester.
“The proposals will make a significant contribution to meeting that need, and will convey extensive benefits as a consequence, including a commitment to a substantial proportion of affordable student bedrooms.”
It means that, once completed, the development will house 1,224 student bedrooms, approximately. Previously, the site was home to Chandos Hall, another student accommodation tower.
IQ also decided to press on with the revamped plans as the site is ‘one of the finest development opportunities in the city centre of Manchester’, the statement added. “Echo Street is one of the finest development opportunities in the city centre of Manchester standing as a prominent landmark highly visible from Piccadilly Railway Station and adjacent to prime retail streets and leisure attractions of the city,” it went on.
“The vision for the development at Echo Street is to deliver a high-quality and modern purpose-built student accommodation scheme which meet the Manchester City Council’s need to increase purpose-built student accommodation supply in the right places.
“Echo Street is in a key, central location at a prominent gateway site within the city centre. Within the Oxford Road Corridor, the site is in close walking distance to the University of Manchester’s North and South campuses, as well as Manchester Metropolitan University’s All Saints and Birley campuses.”
You can view the plans on Manchester City Council's website, or by searching '136874/FO/2023' on the authority's planning portal.
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