Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has approved plans to redevelop Manchester’s historic Free Trade Hall as a 16-storey five-star hotel.
The decision ends five years of controversy about the listed building’s future and clears the way for a 250-room Radisson Edwardian hotel, which is expected to open in 2003.
In 1998, Prescott surprised town hall leaders and the property industry by rejecting earlier plans to create a 250 ft cylindrical tower following opposition from local civic groups.
EGi News 09/03/01
