Plans lodged for 1,000-bed Manchester PBSA
RG Real Estate wants to knock down Charles Street Car Park and build a student housing scheme featuring a 38-storey tower.
RG was selected by Bruntwood SciTech and the University of Manchester to deliver a student scheme on a gateway site at the former UMIST campus, which is being redeveloped into a £1.7bn innovation cluster.
The 1,041-bed PBSA project has been designed by Hodder + Partners and is located on the corner of Charles Street and Sackville Street next to the viaduct on what is known as plot H at Sister.
It would feature eight-, 10-, and 38-storey elements and a mix of studios and cluster flats.
The submission of plans follows a public consultation held late last year.
The wider project team includes Layer Studio, Deloitte, Roscoe, HGCE, Civic Heritage, Civic, Blackbird Consulting, Stephen Levrant HA, Synergy, Buro Happold, GIA Surveyors, Tyler Grange, Ashton Fire, Project Four, and Counter Context.
To learn more, search for reference number PLA-2026-000312 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.
The landscaping has been designed to account for the future activation of the railway arches. Credit: via planning documents
RG Real Estate has delivered or is delivering PBSA schemes in London, Bristol, and Nottingham. The company, part of the wider RG Group, recently completed a 35-storey BTR scheme for Cortland in Birmingham.
The group also has previous in Manchester, completing Swan House for Ridgeback and Round Hill Capital and Olympian Homes’ £165m Fairfax.
RG Real Estate development director Darren Simmons, said: “Following an extensive design development process, led by our architects Hodder + Partners, we have submitted a planning application to transform this underutilised site.
“The thoughtful design will deliver high-quality student accommodation alongside more than one acre of new public realm and active ground-floor spaces for local residents to enjoy, all located on the doorstep of key transport links and the city’s major universities. Our scheme will support the reactivation of Altrincham Street as part of the wider Sister masterplan, and form the gateway to a thriving new city centre neighbourhood.”
The development is located next door to another high-density student proposal: IQ’s redevelopment of the Western Halls and Pendulum Hotel site which calls for 50-, 32-, 24-, and 18-storey elements.
Looks great. Sooner that eye sore of a car park comes down the better
By Steve
Monumental improvement.
By Tom
Glad to see this proposal moving forward. Like to see a render with the adjacent plot included to get a feel for the full change to Charles Street
By Rich
Hopefully this ends up looking better than Swan Street which RG built, everyone complains about the quality of the sky scrapers in Manchester but the facade on Swan Street has to be one of the ugliest built recently.
By Anonymous
I can see the wider vision of Sister and Mayfield more clearly now. Going to be great when it all comes together – they’re racing along as usual. Well done to all involved, looks super!
By Anonymous
Get it built – the current site is a horrific mess!
By Yay
When is that space ever going to actually get that sunlight?!?
By Anonymous
Any chance of Bruntwood doing anything with the rest of the site?
By Anonymous
Get it built! Great to see it addressing the railway arches, which will almost certainly be opened up for commercial uses in the future.
By Anonymous
Yes, Swan street skyscrapers is one of the ugliest buildings in Manchester c/o SimpsonHaugh of course.
By John