101 Embankment tops out

Ask Real Estate and joint venture partners Carillion and Tristan Capital Partners have marked the 10-storey office on the edge of Salford and Manchester city centre reaching its highest point of construction.

Alongside 165,000 sq ft of office space, together with retail and leisure units, 101 Embankment will be ready for occupation this summer.

Ask, Carillion and Tristan are preparing to submit a planning application to build a further 10-storey tower next to 101 Embankment, named 100 Embankment. The building will also be 165,000 sq ft.

A 442-space undercroft car park, pre-let to Q-Park, lies underneath the two Embankment office buildings, and will be operational when 101 is finished.

The scheme on the northern bank of the River Irwell, next to Manchester Victoria Station and opposite Manchester Cathedral, includes part of the old Exchange Station. Construction has seen extensive ground excavations around the station, with the original façade forming part of the entrance to the car park.

John Hughes, managing director of Ask Real Estate, said: “It’s fantastic to have reached this point in the build programme. The Embankment scheme is going to be an integral part of a new working and living quarter in Manchester city centre.

“It also forms part of the wider Greengate regeneration scheme on the border of Manchester and Salford. When both Embankment buildings are completed, the development will be a new business destination and help the area become ‘the place to be’ in Manchester city centre.

“The Metrolink second city crossing will also connect Embankment with suburbs north and south of Manchester city centre.”