All clear for £55m Reedham House as Gove opts not to intervene
The secretary of state has decided not to call in Property Alliance Group’s 14-storey Manchester office development for more scrutiny despite objections from Historic England.
The decision by Michael Gove not to intervene means Alliance can press ahead with the £55m scheme, which has been four years in the making.
Alliance chief executive Alex Russell told Place North West he was confident the work that went into developing the scheme would be enough to convince both Manchester City Council and the secretary of state of its merits.
“Whilst we are happy that we received planning and that it wasn’t called in by the Secretary of State, we weren’t surprised by the outcome,” he said.
Historic England had objected to the plans saying the loss of Reedham House would have a “pronounced effect” on the neighbouring carriage works, which would be retained and refurbished under Alliance’s proposals.
However, Russell and his project team have maintained throughout the process that the part of the site in line for demolition is, while listed, of “little architectural merit”.
“Through consultation with Heritage and Historic England we were able to identify that [Reedham House] was actually rebuilt in the 1920s, and again post World War Two, and has been altered several times since,” Russell said.
Manchester City Council agreed with Alliance’s view and approved the scheme at last month’s planning committee meeting.
Michael Gove has now looked at the plans, alongside Historic England’s objections, and also taken the developer’s side.
Place contacted Historic England for comment.
Russell added: “Working closely with the project team, we were able – after a four-year period – to highlight that the benefits of removing Reedham House and replacing it with a new sustainable office development that facilitated the restoration of the Carriage Works, outweighed keeping all of Reedham House and the deteriorating Carriage Works as they are now.
“That, in our opinion, is why it was a unanimous decision [at committee]. We are now focused on finalising plans to bring forward this exciting new opportunity, which will be a positive addition to the Parsonage area.”
The project team for the scheme includes Jon Matthews Architects, Euan Kellie Property Solutions, Planit-IE, and Counter Context.
Alliance’s Reedham House redevelopment is situated at the heart of an area undergoing extensive regeneration.
Alliance can now push ahead with the 14-storey scheme, which forms part of the St Mary’s Parsonage regeneration cluster.
Other emerging schemes within spitting distance include Bruntwood’s 100,000 sq ft Alberton House, Investec’s 564,000 sq ft Kendall Milne building conversion, and Oval Real Estate’s mixed-use redevelopment of Albert Bridge House.
A sensible decision
By mcleod
I think it’s the right decision. Reedham House isn’t exactly any type of architectural gem and this part of the city centre really needs regeneration as it’s one of the most dodgy looking ones.
By Michael
Common sense in this case, well done.
By Anonymous
A sensible decision would be to have larger tower here
By Giant Skyscraper Fan
Mediocre design but at least it will contribue to the area’s regeneration.
By Anonymous
Good decision. Nothing to do with central government.
By Simon
So the consensus seems to be, lets knock down a a 100 year + old building to build something that will look dated and knocked down within 25 years. Great use of the increasingly scarce resources and money. Future generations will scratch their heads at the current level of ignorance and stupidity.
By Loganberry
@Loganberry: A building’s age isn’t a sufficient condition for preservation. It’s an unremarkable building that I doubt has caught any tourist’s eye. I can imagine Historic England in the 22nd Century, campaigning tirelessly to preserve “our historic vape shops”
By S
Loganberry only the facade of the existing building is to be demolished, this was built in the 1950s, the remainder of the historic building is to be retained.
By Anonymous
Let’s be absolutely clear the front elevation was largely rebuilt in the 1920’s so nothing about Reedham House is original. It looks pleasant enough but you wouldn’t die in a ditch to save it. Can’t say I’m a fan of the new build in its current context but it should be fine when HOF, Alberton and ABH are developed. The big win here though is saving the future of two listed buildings…….thought even Loganberry would value that!!
By Researcher
They were hardly knocking down the Refuge building or the hanging gardens of Babylon. Good decision.
By Anonymous