Demo kicks off £500m Wythenshawe regen
Manchester City Council and Muse have begun razing the former Peacocks store at Civic to make way for a 30,000 sq ft culture hub, with hopes to open the space in 2027.
The culture hub is the first part of the duo’s £500m vision for a refreshed Wythenshawe town centre.
The wider scheme is due to include approximately 2,000 homes, with plans submitted earlier this month for the first 422.
“This is a real mile marker moment for Wythenshawe Civic,” said Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, regarding the demolition.
“After some months of setting a vision, taking time to have a proper conversation with local people, and planning, we can celebrate the first tangible signs of construction – the first in a long-term plan that will transform the town centre.”
Main contractor Kier is set to begin construction on the Architectural Emporium-designed culture hub early next year, once demolition wraps.
Joel Chandler, senior development manager at Muse, said: “Works at Civic will continue at pace from this point as we deliver the project we have promised over the next couple of years.
“All of the shops and services at Civic will remain open throughout the works, and we’re encouraging local people to stay involved in shaping the wider plans as they progress.”
The culture hub will host a series of eating spaces on its ground floor, with the first floor reserved for creative studios, workshops, and a cinema room.
The three units opposite the future culture hub are being transformed into a food hall and workspaces.
Demolishing the former Peacocks space will also enable the revamp of the town centre’s public square, with new planting and seating in the works. CW Studio is the landscape architect behind these proposals.
The culture hub project is funded via £20m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund and £11.9m from Manchester City Council.
In addition to Architectural Emporium, the project’s planning team included Lambert Smith Hampton, MZA Acoustics, Mode Transport Planning, The Environment Partnership, and TACE.
Want to view the culture hub’s planning application? Search reference 142287/VO/2025 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.
We don’t want a culture hub, the council have not listened to residents and just ignored what we want for the area. We need shops, shops, shops and the return of the market. The culture hub is just nonsense and unwanted.
By Resident
We don’t need more houses, we need some adventure playgrounds for the youths because the parks that’s here are for toddlers, we need more green space with flowers and trees for the wildlife. Having more houses is only going to cause floods. The grids don’t get empty / cleaned out and the roads and footpaths are not cleaned and that means people will slip on the wet leaves. True people if Wythenshawe have not been asked what they would like, the people in charge of all these plans had meetings but not many people turned up for because they were not advertised. You may have read this but most probably won’t take any notice because plans were already made in advance without anyone it concerns and that’s the people of Wythenshawe asked. Upgrade the houses and shops that are already there Wythenshawe Town Centre went down hill once you got rid of the market, that brought people from other areas come and visit.
By Anonymous
Exciting stuff, great to see this happening and look forward to seeing it take shape
By Dan
I will reserve judgement…. Nice ideas… But seeing as civic is a no go area once the shops shut.. not sure if you vision for the area will work…. Also with all this new housing there is going to be too much pressure on local services…be specially doctors.. you already have a 3 week wait for an appointment
By Anonymous
It’s all been done before. And didn’t change a thing. It’s the people and attitudes that need changing.
By Steve. Ex wythenshawe resident
We have heard it all before we need shops shops shops shops ha ha
By Laughing out loud
If people want shops, shops, shops then they need to stop doing shopping online and go to a physical shop. It’s the use of the Internet for home deliveries which is killing the traditional shops, not alot the council can do about it. The plans look great by the way. I remember the forum theatre which was a great asset to the people of Wythenshawe, it’s a shame it closed.
By Anonymous