Urban & Civic puts Renaissance hotel on market
The developer has put the 1970s hotel on Manchester’s Deansgate up for sale, six years after buying the 1.8-acre plot as part of a former West Properties portfolio.
The prominent site houses the 203-bedroom Renaissance, operated by Marriott, with a basement car park, 26,700 sq ft of offices, and a 399-space car park.
The plot was bought by Urban & Civic in 2014, along with a one-acre site on Princess Street which has since been developed with contractor Lendlease into Manchester New Square. The £83m project totals 351 apartments and is due for completion in September.
The Renaissance hotel has long been a subject of developer interest and has been earmarked for redevelopment since 1999.
Urban & Civic appointed architect Glenn Howells to design a masterplan encompassing the hotel and nearby area, which was revealed and approved by the council in 2018. The plan outlined the potential for three towers, rising to 45, 22 and 11 storeys, accommodating a 250-bed five-star hotel, 600 apartments as well as a conference centre, retail and public space.
At the time the masterplan was approved, the council acknowledged “significant constraints to demolishing and redeveloping the site, given its structural layout” which has “posed difficulties for previous owners in both masterplanning and funding terms, and has been one of the principal reasons that development has taken such a long time to be brought forward.”
The council owns the freehold of the site, which is on a 125-year lease held by Urban & Civic.
Philip Leech, property director Urban&Civic, said: “The Mariott is a prime development site in the heart of the city with the advantage of medium-term income enabling a purchase to take time to put together plans for comprehensive redevelopment.
“Working with the City Council and Glenn Howells, we are delighted to have evolved such a strong outline scheme which paves the way for the future redevelopment of this key site and consider now is the right time to realise our investment in line with wider business strategy.
“We believe in the strong underlying dynamics of the Manchester market, which are evident through our residential and mixed-use development at Manchester New Square and we expect a strong level of interest in this exciting opportunity.”
JLL and Savills are marketing the sale of the site.
Your Comments
How predictable, it’ll be an eyesore for decades to come
Watch Renaker steam in on this
Surprised to see this on the market as the position is absolutely prime.
It needs demolishing although surely we can have a neo-classical fascade on Deansgate to right the wrongs of the demolished Grosvenor Hotel!?
Hopefully someone will take this on with the cash to move the redevelopment forward. The whole building needs to come down asap, it’s an absolute mess.
Maybe the council should just buy it and demolish it
What are the complex issues with demolishing it?
this is one of the best locations in Manchester therefore it deserves a spectacular looking tower, this proposal isn’t great. I can’t wait to see the renaissance hotel to be demolished, it’s the ugliest corner of Manchester
This area is embarrassing. Just bulldoze and landscape it right up to cathedral gardens. I can think of no other city anywhere in the world with an eyesore like this near its best shops and it cathedral.
Now the hotel is closing – this site definitely needs bulldozing and just landscaping rather than festering for decades to come. We have had to look at it too long already and now the hotel signage has been removed – it looks even more pitiful!