PLANNING | Fortis Quay and Mocha Parade to advance  

Salford City Council is to approve plans for 336-flats across two towers at Fortis Group’s quayside scheme, while plans for a medical centre at the rundown Broughton retail complex are also due to be signed off next week.

Recommended for approval 

Fortis Quay 

The tallest tower at Fortis Quay, Northill, is close to completion

Developer: Fortis Group 

Architect: Hodder + Partners 

Planner: Youngs RPS 

The developer is seeking consent for two new-build residential towers as part of the wider Fortis Quay project, having rowed back on plans to repurpose two former Bruntwood-owned office blocks, Furness House and Custom House, into 137 apartments. 

Under the latest iteration of the scheme, the developer is to demolish the office blocks and build two towers called Herreshoff and Danforth. 

Herreshoff would be 22 storeys at its tallest point, while Danforth would reach 24 storeys. Herreshoff would comprise 158 units and Danforth a further 178. 

Fortis Quay, a four-block residential cluster, also features two towers currently under construction, Northill and Grapnel, with contractor Beaumont Morgan on site. 

Northill comprises 290 apartments and Grapnel provides an additional 272 apartments. 

The addition of the Danforth and Herreshoff towers would take the total number of apartments at Fortis Quay to 898. 

Work started to build the 27-storey Northill Tower part of the scheme in 2018, and the two former offices, which wrap around the Northill tower, had been stripped back to their concrete frames in preparation for the office-to-residential conversion. 

However, the refurbishment element of the proposal has since been deemed unviable, according to a planning statement, and an application to demolish the former offices has been approved by Salford City Council.

The application is recommended for approval subject to the agreement of a financial contribution of £1.8m towards several projects including improvements to Ordsall Park and/or improvements to public realm at The Quays Road and Furness Quay, among others. 

Riverside Health Centre 

Mocha Parade is largely vacant

Developer: Castle Gate Projects 

Architect and Planner: Bluesky Architects 

The developer wants to create a medical centre as part of the wider revamp of Mocha Parade, an ageing retail complex in Lower Broughton that is rundown and largely vacant. 

Castle Gate Projects’ scheme would see the consolidation of two existing Salford practices, Mocha Parade Medical Practice and Lower Broughton Health Centre, into a three-storey L-shaped building on the corner of Lower Broughton Road and Great Clowes Street. 

Elsewhere within Mocha Parade, Lidl is awaiting permission to build a 13,500 sq ft supermarket. 

Salford City Council selected Lidl as its preferred retail partner for the regeneration of Mocha Parade last year.