Wittington pulls Princess Street plans for rethink
The investment manager has withdrawn plans to refurbish and extend its 51,600 sq ft building on Princess Street in Manchester, opting to go “back to the drawing board” and return with designs that reflect the changes in the office market post-Covid-19.
Wittington Investments hopes to resubmit plans before the end of the year, according to Kevin Boylan, chief executive of Wittington’s property division.
Boylan said: “Its back to the drawing board. We are taking the approach to rethink and reimage what the plans might be in regards to what the new world might look like.
“We have been thinking hard about getting it fit for purpose and we want to look at it with fresh eyes to allow the building to operate post-Covid.”
The original proposals, approved in 2017, included a fourth-floor extension to the six-storey, grade two-listed building, the conversion of two ground floor restaurant units into offices, and the reconfiguration of floor plates to provide larger office suites.
In total the work would have added an additional 8,300 sq ft to the building.
Wittington has also opted to refresh the project team. Zerum has been rremoved as planning consultant and Bridge Architects, which designed the £5.2m refurbishment of Bruntwood’s Union headquarters in Manchester’s Albert Square, has replaced Ipswich-based architect Engine Room on the project.
The plans to refurbish the offices were approved in 2017
