MIPIM | Laing O’Rourke set for St Michael’s

14 March 2019 11:00 Charlie Schouten in Cannes Comments (0)

The contractor is set to start on the £200m mixed-use project in Manchester this year with a pre-construction services agreement now in place for the Hodder + Partners-designed scheme.

BCEGI was formerly lined up as main contractor, but is understood to have stepped away from the project in the last 12 months, with Laing O’Rourke now acting on the scheme on a PCSA basis, ahead of a start on site later in 2019. The scheme at Jackson’s Row in the city centre is being developed by ex-footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, along with Manchester City Council, and Singaporean funder Rowsley.

Under the existing planning consent, secured around 12 months ago, the scheme is set to provide a 40-storey tower featuring 189 apartments; 216 hotel bedrooms; nearly 150,000 sq ft of offices; retail and restaurants, and a new synagogue.

It is likely to take around take three-and-a-half years to complete, according to Neville, with the potential to be delivered in phases, with the commercial and hotel element delivered first, likely within two-and-a-half years. At the most recent estimates, made ahead of planning permission in March last year, the scheme had a construction value of £135m and would create 500 construction jobs.

The scheme has gone through a number of changes since plans were first unveiled in July 2016, when they featured two high-rise, black clad towers reaching 29 and 39 storeys respectively, designed by Make Architects.

The proposals would have seen the demolition of all the buildings on the site, including the Sir Ralph Abercromby pub and Bootle Street police station. The scheme inspired fierce opposition, with a petition reaching thousands of signatures, protesting against the height in such a central location, and the loss of the historic assets.

A refreshed proposal by Hodder + Partners followed in summer 2017, and include a single 40-storey lozenge-shaped tower, clad in bronze anodized aluminium. The Abercromby pub and the façade of the Bootle Street police station will also be retained as part of the revised plans.

The professional team on St Michael’s includes Zerum and Hoare Lea.

Laing O’Rourke and the developer declined to comment.