Britannia Group & McAlpine plot 31-storey tower at Swan Street

A joint venture of Britannia Group, Sir Robert McAlpine, Prime Developers, and Foundation Real Estate is holding a public consultation today on plans to build a 31-storey residential-led development on Manchester’s Swan Street.

The joint venture, Cable Swan Limited, is bringing forward a SimpsonHaugh designed development on the site of Swan House, which sits on the corner of Swan Street and Rochdale Road. The plot also borders Cable Street to the rear. It sits directly opposite Angel Gardens, Moda’s 35-storey PRS scheme, which is currently being built by Caddick.

Cable Swan’s proposals are to demolish existing buildings on the site, including industrial units bordering Cable Street, and to build two towers of 31 and 13 storeys. These will feature 358 build-to-rent apartments along with 12 serviced apartments and more than 4,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space, as well as improved public realm.

While Swan House is set to be demolished, other buildings fronting Swan Street, starting with the building currently used as the Chinese Women Society, will be retained.

McAlpine is set to act as main contractor on the project which has a three-year construction programme.

Along with architect SimpsonHaugh, the professional team includes GVA How as planner; Curtins as structural engineer; and Gardiner & Theobald as cost consultant; and Open as landscape architect.

The plans will be on show at a consultation today between 3pm and 7pm, being held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Manchester.

Awais Shahid, operations director at Britannia Group, said: “New Cross is undergoing a period of extensive change and we are excited to bring forward plans that will transform this gateway site. Our proposals include new public realm that will contribute to a wider city strategy to join up New Cross, the Northern Quarter and the rest of the city centre.”

John Parnell, project development director at Sir Robert McAlpine, said: “Our plans will deliver significant housing stock for the area contributing to the ambitious targets set by the Government, as well as regional and local jobs, particularly during the three-year construction programme.”