Work Begins on New Canalside Houses Close to the City Centre

Work is anticipated to begin this week on a new residential development on the Rochdale Canal, close to the City Centre. Following Planning Approval in October 2016, Urbanitymcr can report that enabling and site security  works at next phase of the Bramah Place and Platting Village Masterplan are already underway, with construction anticipated to begin in the coming weeks.

 

Images showing hoardings being erected along the Rochdale Canal, with the historic locks in the foreground and Victoria Mill in the background. 

Built as part of Manchester City Council’s £235 million Private Finance Initiative scheme in partnership with Lovell Homes,  the scheme forms one element of the 1500-home masterplan for the Miles Platting and Bradford Road areas. A large compulsory purchase order led to the clearance of hundreds of former social-sector housing within the city centre and the construction of the canalside park. This route now forms a popular pedestrian route which is also favoured by dog walkers. The canal also allows a  traffic-free cycle route directly into Ancoats and the Northern Quarter in one direction and the Etihad Campus and Phillips Park in the other.

As part of the 1.95 hectare scheme, 73 two and three storey houses will be constructed, with realigned roads and upgraded landscaping. Almost half of the new units will be four bedroom properties, with the remaining half featuring 2 and 3 bedroom properties. The setting of these any of these homes will overlook the historic locks on the Rochdale Canal, in the setting of the historic Victoria Mill and revamped Victoria Mill Park.

The previous elements of the Lovell Homes scheme has already led to the sale of hundreds of new homes. Many of these have been subsequently been released for private rent by property developers. The pace of change and demand in this area has seen newly built rental properties let at over £1100 per month.

This latest development is expected to deliver quality family dwellings for the private home-occupier market at the heart of the inner-city. This is anticipated to provide diversity to the housing market of the Ancoats, New Islington, Bradford Road and Miles Platting areas.

Sitting within walking distance of local amenities such as the New Islington Free School Etihad Stadium as well as popular local restaurants and bars such as Rudy’s Pizza, Second City, Vermillion Ancoats Coffee Co. and Vnam, these homes are anticipated to fetch between £170,000 and £250,000. See below for an overview of the site as well as individual house types.

 

Coming of Age: Manchester’s “Millenium Community”: 16 years on

The fringe of Manchester City Centre is changing rapidly – nowhere more rapidly than New Islington.

Millenium Communities were an initiative to create new villages which set the standard for 21st century living. A project of John Prescott, they were designed to promote innovative building technologies, high urban design standards and sustainable principles.

New Islington and its developers including Urban Splash,  has received applause for it’s approach here. Will Alsop’s Chips building, Islington Wharf and the marina at Cotton Field Park were early projects. These were striking. However, the recession and poor market conditions stalled some of the other projects including Urban Splash’s shelved self-build project ‘Tutti Fruity’.

Appreciating the area, has (until recently) involved looking towards these landmarks, but closing your eyes to the huge gaping wasteland at the heart of the village. Guardian Cities writer Owen Hatherley commented on the universal applause for this area, which was distinctly disjointed until recently.

The “battle over the Ancoats Dispensary in 2014 focussed the attention on the future direction of the site, at a time when money was sparse. This historic site, was close to demolition, Around this time, the beautifully designed bridge on Redhill Street was closed for around a year for repairs. Things looked to have paused. The original vision for New Islington was bold, but masterplanning is a long-term game.

Things then appeared to start looking up for the area. The Dispensary was saved. The opening of the East Manchester Metrolink line in 2013 helped to provide enhanced connectivity towards the City Centre and Ashton. A new link bridge between the station on Pollard Street and Bradford Road opened in 2014. The free school project, has opened, albeit on a temporary site. In 2015, construction at the new location for the school, finally started on the ground.

The development of ‘Islington Wharf Mews’, ‘The Point’ and the second phase of Milliners Wharf (known as ‘Hat Box’) have added more housing density to the edges of the area. The renovation of former local authority tower blocks further north have enhanced views through the area, whilst Lovell Homes ‘Bramah Place’ and ‘Platting Village’ developments are adding much needed quality family housing.

The area seems to finally be maturing, with the ‘core’ area to the north of Cotton Fields Park seeing increasing development – “filling in the gaps”.In 2016 the the first of Urban Splash’s ‘HoUSe’ project.

House is a prefabricated housing development offers self-design as opposed to self-build. The townhouses are built off-site to the prospective owner’s specification, then dropped into place. Manchester’s Life’s project next door (the site with the rather large cranes on) will add some bulk to the proposals and fill in some of the gaps.

 

Walking around the area today, with new cafes and restaurants opening in neighbouring Ancoats, it appears that the area is getting there. After a cesarian birth, a growth spurt, a few shaky teenage years, it seems that the “Millenium Community” is finally about to mature.