Consent given for major Manchester regeneration scheme

Manchester City Council has approved plans for the £1.4bn regeneration of the former industrial Mayfield area near Piccadilly railway station.

Plans envisage a distinctive and imaginative mixed-use neighbourhood, which will be centred around the city’s first new public park in more than 100 years.

The decision allows The Mayfield Partnership to start one of the UK’s largest urban regeneration projects, which includes 29,700m² of world-class commercial space across two buildings, The Poulton and The Republic; and a multi-storey car park.

The Poulton, designed by Bennetts Associates, will provide 7,051m² of commercial space and feature a double-height, flexible ground floor that will be open to the public throughout the day and evening for uses that could include wellbeing activities, leisure and co-working.

It is complemented by The Republic, designed by Morris+Company, a 13-storey, 22,600m² flagship office development that includes larger floorplates and landscaped roof terraces.

Work is expected to commence on-site on the park and the buildings this year.

The Mayfield Partnership includes Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and regeneration specialist U+I.

Richard Upton, Chief Development Officer at U+I, said: “Mayfield will be one of the UK’s defining urban developments this decade. These plans for the first phase bring together exceptional new workplaces with cultural space, centred on a beautifully landscaped park that will provide a transformative and sustainable public amenity for the people of Manchester long into the future.”