Plans for the £400m Gasworks New Town scheme that will create more than 1,200 homes have been approved by Manchester City Council
MCR Property Group’s Gasworks New Town project will create 1,202 homes on the site of the former Rochdale Road Gas Works at the heart of Manchester, with a mixture of townhouses and apartments.
For years the 6.6-acre site has been home to a car park that added little to the public realm but that will all change over the next few years with the first residents expected to move in by the end of 2023.
This flagship development will create a new centre of gravity for central Manchester that will create thousands of jobs and inject tens of millions of pounds into the city’s economy.
The project will include 192 sqm of commercial space and its accommodation will be provided by nine separate buildings ranging from 8 to 34 storeys in height.
Architects, AHR, included 1,224 cycle spaces as part of a determined effort to encourage more people to walk and cycle, and help reduce the amount of traffic on local roads. Where there is underground parking, bays will have electric charging points for the next generation of environmentally-friendly vehicles.
The Gasworks New Town neighbourhood is one of seven envisioned by the £4bn Victoria North masterplan, formerly known as the Northern Gateway Strategic Regeneration Framework.
This masterplan will see the entire area north of the city centre transformed over the next 20 years by the delivery of 15,000 new homes across 383 acres.
The Gasworks itself will act as a key anchor for this vision, being one of the first major developments to get planning permission and sitting so close to the city centre. It is a short walk away from The Northern Quarter, Ancoats and NOMA while Manchester Victoria Train Station is only minutes away.
A total of 85 affordable homes will be available through Shared Ownership, this number may increase during the fourth phase of the scheme.
The scheme will be built in four phases with construction set to begin this summer, while the tallest residential tower is expected to be completed by the end of 2030.
The ‘jewel in the crown’ for MCR
Nick Lake, asset manager for MCR Property Group, said: “We’re a Manchester-based business and this is an incredibly proud moment for the company.
“We all felt a responsibility to create something spectacular on home turf and there is no doubt that the Gasworks will provide an aspirational and inspirational place to live and work.
“We’re particularly proud of the project’s environmental credentials, claiming the crown for being the most carbon-efficient development of its type that Manchester has ever seen.
“This really is a scheme fit for the coming century, with electric charging points on every parking space and more than 1,000 cycle spaces making this one of the most bike and pedestrian-friendly residential developments in the country.”
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, added: “Residential investment at this scale should be celebrated and will contribute significantly to meeting demand for high quality homes in this part of the city.
“And once again, developments such as this show a real confidence in Manchester as an attractive place to invest and do business – the importance of which cannot be underestimated as we look to economic recovery following the pandemic.”
