Crane survey: Oxford Road arrival in November
The skyline of Manchester city centre will gain another tower crane next month when Shepherd Construction erects one at the £45m student housing block next to the mainline train station.
The 33-storey, 520-bed residential tower designed by Hodder & Partners is being built in Great Marlborough Street for the overseas and mature student market by newly formed developer Student Castle.
There are currently seven active cranes on three sites in the city centre: three at the new Co-operative Group headquarters, two at Chetham's School of Music and two at Manchester Metropolitan University business school. There are two inactive cranes at West Properties' Origin on Princess Street.
Student Castle is backed by Carphone Warehouse directors Charles Dunstone and Roger Taylor. The company has live projects in Newcastle and Cardiff and is targeting a dozen university cities around the country.
Drivers Jonas Deloitte acted as planning consultants for Oxford Road development, due for completion in 2012.
The origin site near by is still a sight! Another example of big aims but they forgot to pull the trigger. Is 33 storeys really needed as the surrounding area must be less than half that. Not that you can tell from the artist impression.
By Local resident