300-home tower block in Manchester gets the go-ahead

Developer Property Alliance Group and investment firm Starwood Capital have been granted planning permission for 27-storey, 300-flat tower block in Manchester. 

Manchester council has approved detailed plans for the building ‘One Cathedral Square’, which will contain one-, two- and three-bed flats, including four penthouse apartments. 

The block, designed by Jon Matthews Architects, is the latest phase in the developer and investment firm’s £210m (GDV) mixed-used redevelopment of the Renaissance site on Deansgate, Manchester. 

It is part of the joint venture’s masterplan to redevelop a city district badly bombed by the IRA in 1996, which links the cathedral, AO Arena and Manchester’s main shopping area. 

The block will include a cinema room, gymnasium and lounge, and be built alongside extensive outdoor riverside space, private gardens and a communal roof terrace.

Alex Russell, chief executive of the Property Alliance Group, said: “We are delighted to have now been awarded the go ahead for both the office and residential elements of our masterplan at Renaissance. We have a strong and dedicated team behind the delivery of One Cathedral Square.” Work is expected to start on the block later this year.