THING OF THE WEEK

BEER WALL… Manchester Street Food, the city’s latest dining destination, is due to open this summer. First revealed by Place last September, the project to convert the ground floor of Ducie Street Warehouse close to Piccadilly Station will feature 11 food traders and a pair of bars. It is unclear whether the venue will be ready in time for this summer’s World Cup but surely that is the aim? What better way to put the mini cinema and self-service beer wall to good use than as an accompaniment to a delicious steaming bowl of semi-final penalty shootout heartbreak.

Stephen Young filling in the gaps. Credit: Stephen Young

YOUNG AT HEART… Since joining the council last year, Salford City Council chief executive Stephen Young has not been afraid to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in. He has been spotted donning a hi-vis on numerous occasions with the council’s homelessness and waste and recycling teams and and this week he was out filling potholes with the highways division. Tarmac is good for fixing pavements but surely nothing can fill the hole in his heart following the injustice that befell his beloved Burnley Football Club at the weekend.

The scheme could be Europe’s biggest hostel. Credit: via FTI Consulting

A&O LET’S GO… You may recall an article from a few weeks back reporting on A&O Hostels’ first foray into the Manchester market. The Oliver Winter-owned company acquired the Ibis and Novotel hotels off Portland Street and plans to refurb them to provide 1,218 beds across 303 rooms. One might conclude that its Manchester project is a decent sized undertaking but the scheme is small beer compared to what the firm has planned in Berlin. Having bought a vacant 330,000 sq ft office block, A&O is planning to convert it into what is being billed as “Europe’s largest hostel” with a whopping 2,500 beds.

The bungalows would be constructed behind an existing row of houses. Credit: via planning documents

CHUMBAWUMBA… Despite multiple refusals, developer Egerton Trust is not ready to give up on its plans to build bungalows off Orford Road in Warrington. In a saga stretching back to pre-covid times, the developer has tried on several occasions to secure approval for five bungalows but has met with refusal – including twice at appeal – at every turn. The revised plans lodged in February are largely the same as those most recently rejected by the Planning Inspectorate but seek to address the BNG concerns that put paid to those plans. You know what they say, sixth time lucky.

Credit: via Tavistock

INDUSTRIAL SCALE… The hospitality industry needs a bit of hope right now. Every week it seems like another much-loved venue goes to the wall citing economic headwinds. Perhaps McNamara’s Sports Bar & Lounge has the solution. Rather than taking space on the high street or a city centre, where rents are often one of the reasons pubs and bars fail, the company has signed a 10-year lease on an industrial unit at Astmoor Industrial Estate in Runcorn and will pay just £6.25/sq ft. The 6,300 sq ft space will feature a sports bar, snooker hall and dart academy.