Capital & Centric combats ‘bland’ designs with Leonardo Hotel

Plans for a residential-led district near to Piccadilly station have moved forward with Capital & Centric’s submission of a planning application for a 275-bedroom Leonardo hotel on Adair Street.

The proposal includes a public square, restaurant and bar.

The 110,000 sq ft hotel, designed by Stephenson Studio, will be located on the corner of Adair Street and Great Ancoats Street and will reach up to 13 floors. As part of the design of the Jenga-inspired building, planters will be situated down one side to create a trail of greenery from the roof down to the street. Re-form advised on the landscaping.

Capital & Centric bought the plot on the corner of Adair Street and Great Ancoats Street in 2018 from a private vendor for around £2m. The site is near the developer’s Crusader Mill residential scheme, and London Warehouse, a multi-million pound refurbishment of the former Place aparthotel, delivered in partnership with Native.

The hotel falls within the Portugal Street East regeneration framework. Other projects coming forward include Olympian Homes and Aecom’s proposals for two towers targeted at the PRS sector, designed by Jon Matthews Architects, and a 23-storey residential block from Forshaw Land & Property, designed by SimpsonHaugh. Another building sited in the SRF zone is Aeroworks, an office owned by Epsilon Real Estate and recently fully let to On The Beach.

Both Forshaw and Olympian have submitted planning applications for their schemes, but Manchester City Council held off progressing the proposals until all developers could agree on a plan for delivering and maintaining public realm. Transport for Greater Manchester, the council, and KM Print Design are also landowners around Portugal Street East.

Details on a joint planning application for the public realm are set to appear in the coming weeks.

Speaking about the Leonardo Hotel proposals, Adam Higgins, co-founder of Capital & Centric, said: “We’ve had an amazing response to the plans – everyone’s loved the eye catching and bold design. We always like to create something interesting and beautiful but we’ve never had such an amazing reaction to the architecture before. I think people have got used to boring, bland, and safe designs, so we’re made up people love it.

“People are crying out for this part of the city to be regenerated. Everyone we spoke to can’t believe it’s been left forgotten for years. Sat right next to Piccadilly the potential around here is huge. This is just the start for us. We’ve big plans for more apartments, offices, hotels and café-bars.

“The Council has put its support behind regenerating this area and creating a new vibrant quarter. We just need to get things moving as people are crying out for it to be shown some love.”

Leonardo is a brand owned by Fattal Hotel Group, and could be open to visitors by early 2021. This marks the Group’s second deal in Manchester following its purchase of the Midland Hotel in October.