Plans revealed for Manchester’s 'first fully-sustainable eco' aparthotel tower

Plans for Manchester’s 'first fully-sustainable eco' aparthotel tower have been revealed.

If approved, a high-rise featuring 185-bedrooms would be constructed on the corner of Chatham Street, which includes the Grade II-Listed former Union Bank of Manchester.

Previous proposals for a 23 storey, 356-bedroom hotel on the site were backed by Manchester City Council in 2019 but have now lapsed.

A new planning application is expected to be lodged in the coming months. BusinessLive understands that the exact number of storeys is still to be confirmed.

The news comes after Cheshire-based lender Together provided a £3.5m loan facility for the fresh plans while Northside (Manchester) Ltd has entered into a joint venture with hospitality company Room2 to put forward the proposals.

Michael Devanny, corporate relationship director at Together, said: "We’re delighted to have been chosen as Northside’s finance partner.

"Our funding has allowed them to purchase this site, including the former Union Bank, with the whole area an ideal location for business travellers and holidaymakers visiting Manchester.

"It will allow Room2 to press ahead with planning the city’s – and region’s - only whole life net zero hotel, meaning all carbon emissions from conception through to the building’s end of life will be reduced and re-balanced to zero.

"We were impressed with Northside’s ambitious vision for this excellent scheme and Room2’s previous success in opening their Chiswick hometel, and we’re proud to help this new joint venture achieve their ambitions for the new Manchester project."

Together was approached by Ice Cubed Property Finance, a York-based commercial adviser, to secure the finance in behalf of Northside (Manchester) Ltd. The short-term commercial loan allowed Northside to buy the site.

Paul Ellis, one of four directors at Northside (Manchester) Ltd, added: "We’re proud of the opportunity to bring forward the delivery of an iconic true carbon net zero tower alongside our partners Room2 with the continued trusted support of the Together team."

Tom Frank, director of Ice Cubed, said: "This has been an exciting project to work on combining a client and lender to meet the aspirations of a new partner in the sustainable sector.

"We believe it’s important that the long term use of the asset has a sustainable proposition, so it’s great to see the lender, borrower, broker and operator both working together to the same sustainable goal."