Whitbread and Dominvs Group have submitted plans for a £200m office and student accommodation scheme in Manchester.
The One Medlock Street plans will see the demolition of the existing five-storey Premier Inn hotel and the development of 387,500 sq ft of flexible, grade-A offices, with access to external amenity space on each floor, designed by Jon Matthews Architects.
More than 1,000 units of purpose-built student accommodation will be developed next door. The site is within walking distance of the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University campuses.
Richard Pearson, Whitbread’s senior development manager, said the scheme had been unlocked by the development of the new Premier Inn on Princes Street. “Manchester is one of the most popular locations for Premier Inn customers in the UK. Working with Dominvs, we now have the opportunity to realise the true potential of the Medlock Street site by creating high-quality workspace and student accommodation at an important gateway to the city centre.”
The One Medlock Street scheme is in the city council’s First Street Development Framework area and forms part of the city’s Southern Gateway.
This is the third time that Dominvs has joined forces with Whitbread. In 2018, the duo partnered on the delivery of a 180-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant in Milton Keynes, and work is under way on a 400-bedroom Premier Inn in Hammersmith.
Jay Ahluwalia, principal director at Dominvs, said: “We have worked in partnership with Whitbread to create a mixed-use scheme that will provide an attractive, sustainable and well-connected hub for work, study and living in a huge boost to Manchester’s Southern Gateway. While contributing to the continued regeneration of the First Street area through new community amenities and green spaces, One Medlock will provide much-needed student housing in a city where over 50,000 students lack access to purpose-built accommodation.”
The Manchester scheme will also include a landscaped “pocket park” and rain garden, while “green streets” will connect the site to the wider First Street Regeneration.
Once completed, the scheme will provide room for 2,200 office jobs and contribute £1.6m in business rates per annum.
Dominvs Group’s portfolio ranges from hotels to residential and office spaces, with a £2.4bn development pipeline.
To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews
