Manchester approves PAG’s Renaissance tower
A 27-storey building comprising 300 apartments forms part of the developer’s mixed-use redevelopment of the prominent Deansgate site.
Property Alliance Group, working in joint venture with Starwood Capital, has already secured consent for a four-star hotel and 50,000 sq ft office building on the Renaissance site.
The residential tower, designed by Jon Matthews Architects and known as One Cathedral Square, forms the third and final part of the £200m scheme.
The building will offer a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments and will be stepped in height providing several rooftop terraces.
Ground-floor retail units, a cinema room, a gym, and a lounge also feature within proposals for One Cathedral Square.
The scheme also features sandstone precast panels that are textured and patterned to reflect the stonework of the nearby Manchester Cathedral.
An area of public realm next to the River Irwell could provide space for pop-up food and drink vendors as well as outdoor seating.
Alex Russell, chief executive of Property Alliance Group, said: “We are delighted to have now been awarded the go-ahead for both the office and residential elements of our masterplan at Renaissance. We have a strong and dedicated team behind the delivery of One Cathedral Square.
“Following the completion and success of our best-in-class city centre apartment schemes, Oxygen and Axis, we anticipate high demand for these exclusive homes in a key district in Manchester that is set for an exciting revival.”
Avison Young is the planning consultant and Planit-IE is the landscape architect. JLL and Alliance Investments have been selected as agents for the apartments.
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- Credit: Virtual Planit
- Credit: Virtual Planit
- Credit: Virtual Planit
- PAG's One Cathedral Gardens is in line to benefit from £6m. Credit: Virtual Planit
The wider scheme
The JV’s new-build residential tower is just one piece of a three-part plan to revamp the Deansgate site it bought from Urban&Civic in January 2022.
The vacant Premier House office building has been demolished to make way for a new-build 50,000 sq ft of Grade A office building.
Meanwhile, the 1970s hotel is being refurbished and will be operated by SH Hotels & Resorts under its Treehouse brand once complete.
The hotel operator is owned by an affiliate of US-based investor Starwood Capital.
The site has long been the subject of developer interest and has been earmarked for redevelopment since 1999. Prior to selling the site to the PAG/Starwood JV, Urban & Civic had appointed Glenn Howells Architects to design a masterplan encompassing the hotel and nearby area, which was approved by the council in 2018.
The masterplan outlined the potential for three towers ranging in height from 11 to 45 storeys, containing a 250-bed five-star hotel, 600 apartments, a conference centre, retail and public space.
