University advances hotel conversion plans
The University of Manchester has won approval to redevelop the grade two-listed Chancellors Hotel and conference centre in Fallowfield into 63 all-female student flats.
The hotel, located west of Richmond Park and east of Whitworth Lane off Moseley Road, closed last year and has been vacant since.
The need for additional student accommodation follows the closure of St Gabriel’s Hall, the university’s only all-female halls of residence.
Following the redevelopment of the hotel, the student residence will be called Uttley Hall.
The property was built in 1851 for engineer and inventor Sir Joseph Whitworth by architect Edward Walters.
The university took ownership of the property and the 5.5-acre grounds in the early 1900s and, in 1997, the building was extended and converted into a hotel.
In 2016, the hotel underwent a £4m refurbishment before reopening in 2017.
However, it closed for good last December.
SDA Consulting is the planning consultant for the project and Buttress Architects designed the scheme.
