Start on site for 100 Northern Quarter homes

Preparatory works have begun for two apartment buildings designed by Hodder & Partners at a gap site in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

The plot at 76-82 Oldham Street is currently a surface car park, but was formerly the Dobbins department store which was damaged by a fire in 2013 and then demolished.

A planning application from Altrincham-based Kempton Homes for two blocks on the site was approved in April, delivering a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

The first building would be between four- and eight-storeys high with access off of Oldham Street, while the second block would be five storeys with an entrance on Spear Street.

The range of height would create a staggered frontage on the Oldham Street side.

Civil engineering contractor D&I Drilling is delivering the first stages of the project.