Fresh plans in for long-stalled Vision Manchester site
Fusion Group has revealed its ambitions to build 826 student apartments at 10-12 Whitworth Street West, a site within spitting distance of Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop.
Tri7, now part of Fusion, acquired the site for £16m last year after the Paul Rothwell-led Vision Manchester SPV entered administration. The £125m Vision was supposed to be a 35-storey tower with 327 flats.
But Fusion opted to pivot towards student housing in their plans for the site. The 826 student apartments would be a mix of studios and cluster flats delivered across 38 storeys. There would be social lounges, study areas, a gym, a cinema, private dining rooms, and a 24-hour reception for residents.
A consultation on the group’s proposals is running through 26 September. A formal planning application is due later this year.
Within the consultation website, Fusion trumpets its plans for a sustainable development, designed by Corstorphine & Wright. The developer states that the scheme will be energy-efficient, made with sustainable materials and utilising low-carbon technologies. A BREEAM rating of Excellent is the target for this purpose-built student accommodation tower.
“Our ambition is to deliver a student living experience that reflects Manchester’s creativity, diversity, and community spirit,” said Julian Evans, development director of Fusion Group.
“We know this part of the city is known for its cultural venues and nightlife, and we’re committed to ensuring a positive relationship with our neighbours – including through sound insulation, on-site management, and sensitive design,” he continued.
“We want to hear from as many people as possible – including local residents, students and businesses – so we can work together to shape final plans that deliver real benefits for everyone who lives, works or studies nearby.”
Fusion is an established force in the student accommodation business, having delivered more than 10,000 student homes since 2006. This includes schemes in York and Liverpool.
The team Fusion has assembled for the Manchester project includes Shear Design, Amber Management and Engineering Services, Cushman & Wakefield, Rhomco, Alder King Property Consultants, and Wardell Armstrong.
Gardiner & Theobald, Helios Fire & Construction Consultancy, GIA, Montagu Evants, Hydrock, Sandy Brown, and Lexington round off the project team.
You can access the 10-12 Whitworth Street West consultation by going to whitworthstreetwestconsultation.co.uk.
Shame its not going to be residential, especially as the surrounding towers are/will be residential. I think there’s more suitable sites for PBSAs in this part of Manchester.
By GetItBuilt!
Love it, breaks up the glass towers well. Looking forward to this and next door
By Bob
Looking forward to seeing the more , better and detailed renders.
It looks very promising.
By jrb
Good for the students to leave the bars on Deansgate Locks and only need to stagger over the road back to bed
By Verticality
Let’s hope MCC have their defence sorted for the appeal. No way this should be a PBSA location.
By Anonymous
This looks awful just like the other Fusion scheme around the corner.
By Anonymous
This isn’t a student location and no doubt will be robustly defended by the City. If it was student the site would have been brought forward long ago by previous owners of the site and would have been delivered. A long drawn out process (fight) will now follow…
By Dave
@Julia You must be a good spitter! 🙂 Or were you thinking from the penthouse level and using wind assistance?
By Albert
Looks like an Aero lollipop
By Bernard Fender
A Social lounge? a gym ? a cinema!?Eeee, when I was a student if you were indoors it was luxury. We slept on coal if you were lucky , over a rope if you weren’t. Of course I may be exaggerating slightly but that’s how I remember it. These look nice though, all soft and cosy for our future workforce, or more likely China’s.
By The Young One
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this area is being killed by an over provision of student accommodation. Students are an important part of the city, but over-concentration in prime central sites is not sensible. The area between Oxford Road and First Street is incredibly quiet outside term time (30 weeks of the year). We need a diverse economy here.
The other risk is that most residents are international students. What happens if the political situation between the UK and China changes, and all these students suddenly dry up? Or a Reform government is elected in 2029 and turns off student visas?
By Mancunian
So here in the comments section three people saying this site isn’t right for student accommodation yet another person is saying this area is being ruined because there is far too much student accommodation in the area!
Also, there are thousands of apartments here, thousands, what is the huge difference between a student skyscraper and a residential skyscraper?
By Cristoforo
@Mancunian is right, we have already seen massive changes in international student numbers as a reaction to changes in visa rules. Overrelying on them is risky at the moment unfortunately
By Anonymous
One of the smarter things Manchester did was spend years restricting PBSA in the city core, but that did famously create an accommodation squeeze. As per another article on this site, much better to density on The Corridor, which is mostly tax exempt university land anyway. Not sure I think this ruins the area though, but the observation on overseas students is spot on.
By Rich X
Why is there a manicured lawn, now on this site?
By Elephant
This isn’t a suitable location for PBSA. It should be an aparthotel or just a hotel.
By Dr B
This area does not need student accommodation there is desperate need for affordable “non-luxury” flats so the workers of Manchester can actually afford to live here. No need for PBSA that only international students can afford in this area.
By J