Ask to submit plans for £31m hotel

Ask Real Estate is due to put in a planning application this month for a 21-storey hotel on Manchester’s Deansgate, designed by SimpsonHaugh.

First revealed in 2018, the 142,000 sq ft building at 325-327 Deansgate sits next to The Deansgate pub and is due to be occupied by a StayCity aparthotel.

The plot on Trafford Street also edges on to the Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink stairway, and is the site of the former Poggenpohl kitchen showroom.

The StayCity would provide 310 rooms, while the railway arches underneath the Castlefield Viaduct would also be opened up to create two units, which could be used for retail, a restaurant or cafe.

The Deansgate pub will be retained and remain open throughout the project build. A separate planning application is being brought forward to create an additional private roof terrace at the pub, with capacity for 60 people.

Subject to planning permission, Ask is understood to be targeting a start on site for the hotel scheme by summer 2020, although a contractor has yet to be revealed.

The professional team includes Deloitte, Cundall, and Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture.