Former footballers, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, are caught up in controversy, as they pull out plans for Manchester twin towers scheme.
Development
A £200 million planned development in the centre of Manchester city has strong opposition from heritage groups. Gary Neville, now a property developer, and former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs, have huge plans for a dilapidated space and little-used space of some 700,000 sq. ft. in the city centre. The development, named St Michaels, is to incorporate within two bronzed towers, a 200 bedroom five-star hotel, 153 luxury flats, two sky bars and restaurants, a synagogue and extensive office, retail and leisure space.
Opposition
The Twentieth Century Society and Historic England have vehemently opposed these plans as the scheme would destroy many historic aspects of the city. Three buildings would need to be destroyed, The Manchester Reform Synagogue, Bootle Street Police Station and an 18th-century pub, The Sir Ralph Abercrombie, which dates back to the 1819 Peterloo Massacre. Campaigners have now submitted an application to have the pub declared ‘an asset of community value’ in order to protect it.
Comments
Giggs and Neville insist that this scheme would transform the St Michaels area and are determined that the project would not be taken down by opposition groups. They also went on to say that Manchester would benefit from a world-class development like St Michaels taking the city’s aspirations global and ensuring that old and new can co-exist, making it perfect for Manchester.
Situation
The present situation is that plans forwarded to Manchester City Council have been put on hold and will not be considered until they undergo further refinements. The project would create 1500 jobs, plus benefit the many companies who would be supplying materials and equipment like companies who sell commercial warewashers https://www.247cateringsupplies.co.uk/bar-supplies/commercial-warewashers.
This will be the third project undertaken by Giggs and Neville in Manchester. They opened a 133 bedroom Hotel Football, opposite the Old Trafford stadium in Feb 2015 and are currently working on transforming the city’s former Stock Exchange into a 36 bedroom boutique hotel. They are excited about the St Michaels project and feel it will offer an incredible statement in architecture and development for Manchester, and will provide for the occurrence of opportunities for further regeneration beyond the red line.
