History
The developer proposed to build a 58-storey, 188 m (617 ft) skyscraper. If built it would be the tallest building in Manchester and the tallest in the UK outside London (a title held by the Beetham Tower, Manchester).
The tower would have 420 residential units and a 220 bed hotel, as well as a fitness centre, conference facilities, restaurants and bars. New public walkways would be constructed along the Ashton Canal adjacent to the site. Three underground floors would have car parking for residents an NCP public car park. A 17-storey "East build" section would comprise retail/commercial/residential space.
The site, a car park on a railway viaduct to the rear of Piccadilly Station between Store Street and Ducie Street was purchased by Inacity for £14 million in 2003. The planning application was submitted in 2004 and was approved in March 2005. The cost of the development is around £220 million.
The project was a joint venture between Inacity and Merepark, but has been sold to Irish property developers, Ballymore, with Inacity retaining a small share. It will be Ballymore's first development in Manchester.
Groundwork started in January 2008, to be completed in August 2008. The work consists of demolishing eightviaduct arches, redirecting a sewer and constructing a 19 m deep concrete retaining wall to the north, where the site is adjacent to a canal.
On 8 September 2008 Inacity announced the project was on hold due to the financial crisis of 2007–2010, and construction would not resume until the economy stabilised. The site was converted back to a carpark.
As of 2013, the site is still owned by original developers Ballymore. The site is currently used as a car park. Ballymore has objected to numerous developments nearby such as renovation of Gateway House which would block access to Piccadilly station suggesting the scheme is still alive - at least in proposal.
-
The site for Piccadilly Tower in February 2008 (facing south)
-
The site of Piccadilly Tower in April 2008
-
Proposed height of the completed Piccadilly Tower, compared to the height of other existing and approved tall buildings in Manchester.
Read more about this topic: Piccadilly Tower
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We said that the history of mankind depicts man; in the same way one can maintain that the history of science is science itself.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“I am not a literary man.... I am a man of science, and I am interested in that branch of Anthropology which deals with the history of human speech.”
—J.A.H. (James Augustus Henry)
“The History of the world is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony—periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)