Month in property | June
Signature moves
Those sparky boys and girls at Signature Living are at it again. Plans went in for a 100-ft chrome helter-skelter complementing the Eden offer at the Shankly Hotel, because let’s face it, no wedding or conference is complete without having a go on a slide. Signature also revealed images of its plans for the ground floor of the Cunard Building, with yes, you’ve guessed it, more wedding and event space. It’s a good job marriage doesn’t seem to be going out of fashion.
Shuttleworth shuffles off
All committed to making big things happen at the St Michael’s scheme in Manchester might be aware that St Michael is the patron saint of warriors. He’s also the patron saint of the sick and the suffering though, so who’s counting? Ken Shuttleworth’s Make Architects has now exited stage left, with Hodder + Partners, first drafted in as a consultant, in the hot seat. The main thing everybody’s wondering about is how tall the revised scheme will be. Anyone fancy opening a book?
Argy barging
It’s all kicked off at New Islington Marina, where boat-dweller residents’ association NIMRA hit Manchester City Council with a petition demanding they be allowed to stay in situ once works start to repair walkways and drainage later this year. The council has apologised for not consulting with residents thoroughly enough and has offered help with temporary moorings, plus priority space upon completion. The real scandal here is that a public realm scheme barely a decade old is in such a state – shouldn’t someone be answering for this?
Future vision for Liverpool Waters
Adventures on the wheels of Peel
You’ve got to hand it to Peel, it doesn’t mess around. June alone saw major schemes announced in at least four parts of the Whittaker empire. There’s Liverpool John Lennon’s expansion, an RHS garden scheme in Salford, naturally, and a Ryder Cup-worthy golf course in Bolton – they’ve had one in Newport, so why not? Then there’s Liverpool Waters. This month the city’s Commonwealth Games bid team proposed that, should it win the 2022 Games, it will host some athletics on the city’s waterfront, which will look, as the kids say, epic. A good month for Peel.
United we stand?
Student flats developer Unite held an event to launch consultation on its proposed 35-storey scheme in Manchester’s New Wakefield Street. Judging by some of the comments, it was smart to hold this before images were released. The nearby 37-floor Liberty Heights, formerly Student Castle, isn’t exactly much loved and the feeling seems to be that this one’s a touch too close to the cherished Principal Hotel. Crikey. It’s not so long since the Farrells-designed Green Building next to Oxford Road looked whopping in that part of town. Eight storeys, since you ask.
So solid Cru
Capital & Centric reads the runes well, and the announcement that Manchester’s local owner-occupiers would be favoured at the Crusader Mill complex, where it is developing apartments, predictably went down a storm on social media. Funnily enough, there’s been a little less love for some of the products currently aimed squarely at the investor community. Maybe marketers didn’t use language so clinical it makes one flinch, they’d be looked on more kindly.
