Hotel site is earmarked for riverside development
UpmArkeT disTriCT is ouTLined in boLd mAsTerpLAn
THESE new designs show how a completely new riverside city centre district could replace Deansgate’s faded Ramada hotel.
Developers Urban and Civic plan to demolish the 1970s complex and replace it with a five-star hotel, 600 upscale apartments and a new public courtyard, as well as waterfront walkways and restaurants.
The firm’s detailed proposals are contained in the council’s draft planning blueprint for the area.
It reveals a planning application for the vision could be submitted as early as this autumn, with demolition of the block due to start in early 2020, once the current lease of the Ramada ends.
Construction would then take three years, meaning the new district would be up and running by 2024.
Manchester town hall has been trying to get the vast site redeveloped for two decades but the complexity and cost of transforming it has seen several successive plans fall through.
The latest proposals would require £200m in upfront funding in order to clear the land, which - as well as the hotel - includes a 360-space multistorey car park and shops fronting onto Deansgate.
They aim to open up the River Irwell, creating a ‘best in class’ new courtyard that would open out onto Deansgate.
“The central courtyard provides a welcoming and vibrant space at the heart of the scheme surrounded by restaurants, eateries and coffee shops that animate the public realm,” says the masterplan.
“The position and orientation of each building has been carefully considered to maximise available sunlight within the courtyard, creating an environment suitable for external dining and pop-up events.”
The three new blocks surrounding the space - some of which could be skyscrapers - would include a five-star hotel from a ‘leading global brand.’
Marriott, Accor, Starwood, IHG, Hyatt and Wyndham are all highlighted in the document as international hoteliers seeking sites in Manchester.
Around 600 high-end apartments – which the strategy says would cater for a growing demand in ‘higher value’ homes – would also be included.
Meanwhile, St Mary’s Gate would become one-way only, allowing traffic - apart from buses - to run southwards and planners to narrow the road in order to make the area more pedestrian-friendly.
That forms part of a long-term plan by the council to discourage cars from using Deansgate as a thoroughfare, along with its regeneration of the nearby area around the cathedral and surrounding ‘medieval quarter.’