Latimer presses ahead in Manchester after Boddies buy 

Construction of 440 apartments across two buildings on Great Ducie Street could begin next summer subject to planning approval. 

Latimer, the development arm of housing association Clarion, is currently holding a public consultation on the plans that ends on 19 September. 

Latimer is aiming to submit a planning application to Manchester City Council in November and predicts that construction could complete by summer 2025. 

Assael Architecture is leading on design and Deloitte Real Estate is the planning consultant. 

The majority of apartments, around 60%, would be available for social rent and shared ownership. The remaining 40% would be for private sale. 

Latimer acquired the Great Ducie Street plot from LTE Group, which is developing a £93m city centre digital and creative campus for the Manchester College. 

Manchester College’s £93m campus sits next to Latimer’s plot. Credit: via planning documents

Located immediately north of the under-construction campus, the 1.24-acre site fronts Great Ducie Street and is currently used as a surface car park. The land – part of a wider seven-acre plot – is deemed surplus to requirements by the college’s operator LTE. 

Latimer’s development would be made up of two buildings. At the rear of the site, the larger building would be stepped in height from 26 storeys to 17.

A smaller, 11- and 12-storey block would front Great Ducie Street. 

Nearby, Prosperity UX Manchester received planning permission to build 556 homes on the site of a Dutton Street car park in February 2019, but construction never started and the company has since collapsed.

Clarion will build 66 shared ownership flats on Store Street next to the Ashton Canal. Credit: via Clarion

Prosperity UX’s Old Brewery Gardens proposal for the site featured two buildings between 11 and 26 storeys, 580,000 sq ft of residential space, and 37,500 sq ft of commercial space.

Elsewhere in the city, Latimer recently bought the site of an approved 106-apartment scheme at Islington Wharf from Waterside Places, a joint venture between Muse Developments and Canal & River Trust. 

In addition, Clarion had plans for 66-apartments on Store Street approved last year. 

The scheme features Manchester city centre’s first shared ownership homes and is being delivered alongside H20 Urban, a joint venture between developer Bloc and the Canal and River Trust.