THING OF THE WEEK

ITADAKIMASU… A Japanese/Peruvian restaurant is making its debut at the Trafford Centre in October. Ready to curry favour with customers, Nichi will offer sushi, ceviche, wagyu, and tableside flambé in what the Trafford Centre has described as an “elevated, theatrical dining experience”. Head chef Kentaro Yanagisawa has some solid credentials, having worked at Sexy Fish and Nobu – so you’ll want to arrive on an empty stomach. At least that’s our plan – although we can’t help but hope that Nichi doesn’t try to replicate Sexy Fish prices. Spare our wallets, please!

The BoE will decide whether to bring the rate below 5% next week. Credit: Images George Rex via CC BY-SA bit.ly/3MVQefT

RATES RACE… Homeowners and homebuilders alike will have more than half an eye on next Thursday’s interest rate review as the Bank of England braces to bring the baseline below 5% for the first time in more than a year. This is good news, but UK developers and mortgage holders continue to peer enviously over the Channel at their neighbours in mainland Europe; the European Central Bank yesterday cut rates to 3.5% – the last time the Bank of England base rate was that low we were gearing up for Christmas 2022.

Dubai’s skyline is always changing. Credit: Ben Koorengevel on Unsplash

TALL TALES… The towers currently being proposed and built in Manchester are, relative to their surrounding context, very tall indeed. However, the three 70+ storey towers currently planned in the city are small beer compared to what is going on in Dubai. Already home to the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building at 830 metres – the city will soon also boast the second-tallest building on the planet.

At 725 metres, the Burj Azizi will overtake Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka 118, which comes in at a puny 678 metres. This week it was revealed the development would also be host the world’s loftiest nightclub, where you can go to quite literally get high. Burj Azizi will also have a seven-star hotel, which is just silly.

There is no H in Rotheram. Credit: LCRCA

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE… For those who cannot tell the difference – which appears to be the majority of people who posted on their Linkedin pages from the Regen 24 event in Liverpool this week: Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire. Rotheram is the surname of the Mayor of Liverpool City Region.

The site has long been earmarked for a tall building cluster. Credit: Google Earth

DUSTY… Have you ever reached down the cushions on your sofa and found a piece of jewellery or a £10 note you thought was lost forever? Something similar happened in Liverpool City Council’s planning office this week.

A full 17 years after the plans were submitted, the authority has got around to disposing of an application for a 53-storey tower on the site of the former King Edward pub on Leeds Street.

The application, submitted by Ray Smith’s Y1 Developments, was validated in July 2007 but no formal decision was ever made. The financial crash came and the scheme was forgotten about, left to gather dust in the portal until this week. To this day, the site remains undeveloped but that could soon change under plans soon to be unveiled by Beetham and TJ Morris. Watch this space.