Manchester finally rubber-stamps next five Renaker skyscrapers

A little over two years since the city council’s planning committee backed the creation of 2,388 flats in a quintet of glass towers rising to 71 storeys – and with the threat of a legal challenge by a rival developer looming – the authority and the developer have inked a legal agreement, paving the way for the project to come forward.

Renaker’s latest Great Jackson Street proposal is a two-parter. Designed by SimpsonHaugh Architects, it features The Green – two 47-storey towers and two 51-storey towers – and the 71-storey Lighthouse, the developer’s tallest building to date, which contains 640 flats.

The plans were first submitted to Manchester City Council in 2023. The following year, councillors voted to approve the project, despite not one of the almost 2,400 homes being affordable. In lieu of on-site affordable provision, Manchester calculated that a sum of £33m would need to be paid if Renaker was to comply with the council’s core strategy.

Renaker argues – and the city council agrees – that a contribution to affordable homes either on site or via a commuted sum would render the scheme unviable. The Section 106 agreement signed by Renaker and Manchester contains a viability review mechanism, which, in theory, would allow the city council to clawback monies to spend on affordable housing if the development’s viability improves over time.

Weis Group, the property company owned by Aubrey Weis, has lodged a series of objections against the project. The firm has cited, amongst other issues, the lack of affordable homes proposed and called into question how viability has been calculated.

Weis Group previously took the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to court over loans to Renaker that the firm said had “distorted” the Manchester property market. The judge in the case ruled in the GMCA’s favour and Weis Group’s subsequent appeal was dismissed.

In the case of the five-tower Great Jackson Street scheme, Weis Group has repeatedly said it intends to request a judicial review should Manchester City Council approve the project, labelling it as “materially deficient”.

That approval has now occurred, which, rather than drawing a line under what has been a drawn out planning saga, may only be the beginning of a legal one.

Renaker has had to endure an unusually drawn out approval process for its largest scheme to date.

June 2026 marked three years since the planning applications for the five buildings were submitted. This is a protracted process for Renaker, Manchester’s most prolific developer, which has historically secured speedy approvals for its projects.

In the case of Contour, two 51-storey towers currently under construction, the gap between committee approval and the completion of the S106 was less than four months. For Trinity Islands, comprising four towers and almost 2,000 homes, the wait was less than three months. The wait for approval for Renaker’s five-tower development at Great Jackson Street currently stands at 20 months.

To learn more about the project, search for reference numbers 137227/FO/2023 and 137226/FO/2023 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal, where the Section 106 agreement and various objections can be viewed.

Involved in the Renaker project are Deloitte, Curtins, WSP, Tenos, ERAP, Godwins, TPM Landscape, Element Sustainability, Fisher Acoustics, Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture, GIA, Enzygo, FutureServ, Chris Burnett Associates, Ambiente, and DP Squared, a DeSimone Company.