Vinci confirmed for £250m New Victoria

The contractor has been selected to build Muse Developments’ mixed-use project off Corporation Street in Manchester, while planner Deloitte applied for further tweaks to the consent to allow for a start on site.

The scheme, next to Manchester Victoria station in the city centre and designed by architecture firm Sheppard Robson, comprises more than 500 flats and 100,000 sq ft of offices across two blocks of 20 and 25 storeys, respectively, as well as an additional seven-storey office.

A ‘pre-commencement condition’ needed for a contractor to start on site was discharged last month, while Deloitte also submitted an application to the council applying for other minor tweaks to the plans, including the addition of photovoltaic panels to the roof.

Vinci had been in talks with Muse for more than two years, as reported by Place North West in May 2019.

The company is now working on the project as main contractor, according to the latest documents from Deloitte submitted to Manchester City Council this month.

Deloitte said in the documents: “Muse Developments has appointed a reputable contractor, Vinci, to construct the three buildings.”

As part of the planning process, Vinci has “inputted into the detailed construction design processes to ensure the buildings are deliverable”, the documents added.

Planning consent was granted in September 2016. Muse had initially set a start-on-site date of the fourth quarter of 2017, but this has since been pushed this back. A start date was not confirmed in the latest documents.

As part of Deloitte’s latest letter to the council, the planner confirmed that the pre-commencement conditions had been met.

The professional team also includes Walker Sime, Arup, Chroma Consulting and Planit-IE.

Vinci and Muse declined to comment.