UK: Plans for a 251-bed room2 hometel in Manchester Piccadilly has been recommended by officers to receive a green light from Manchester City Council next week.
Located between Gore Street and Chatham Street at 12-16 Manchester Piccadilly, plans for the 2.4-acre site include the construction of a 32-storey tower and a conversion of the vacant Grade II-listed former Union Bank building into an aparthotel.
The development is expected to cost around £78 million with an estimated gross development value of £90 million.
Avison Young submitted the planning application on behalf of developer Northside Manchester and Lamington Group, which plan to operate the property as a room2 hometel.
In addition to the 251 rooms ranging from studio to two-beds, amenities would include a ground floor cafe, a first floor exhibition hall/museum, and a rooftop bar and restaurant.
The project is targeted to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating and a WELL Gold rating. According to documents, the ambition is to develop a “landmark building achieving whole life net zero carbon”.
The design and access statement, submitted by architecture firm Bennetts Associates, read: “A key element of the brief is to create an active new building, open to both the general public and aparthotel guests, demonstrating leadership in sustainability and inspiring action.
“The proposals achieve this by bringing 12 Piccadilly and the long vacant adjacent plot back into active use, creating a destination building, accommodating a diverse mix of public, including net zero exhibition, events spaces, fair cost café and rooftop bar, restaurant and terraces uses; in addition to the provision of higher quality aparthotel accommodation to meet increasing demand for aparthotel beds in the city centre, and offers a more diverse mix of rooms in comparison with the previous consent.
“The proposals have been designed to align with the UK Green Building Council’s Net Zero definition in anticipation of meeting the upcoming industry backed UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard, which a number of the design team are helping to develop.”
A decision is expected from Manchester City Council on 29 August.
The previous consented scheme in 2019 proposed a 23-storey budget hotel.
