7 days ago
Manchester to get the UK's tallest building outside of London
ITV Granada's Emma Sweeney reports on plans to build two new skyscrapers in Manchester City centre.
Manchester planners have given the go-ahead for the UK's tallest skyscraper outside of London to be built in the city centre.
The 76-storey 'Viadux 2' tower will stand at 246m high, which is roughly the height of 12 double decker buses.
It will be home to Robert De Niro's luxury hotel and restaurant chain, Nobu, and also house 452 apartments.
Manchester City Council also gave the green light for a second skyscraper nearby.
But music venue, Rebellion, on Whitworth Street, says it'll be sandwiched between the two. Co-owner Alex Kostayakov says he fears complaints from new residents could impact the business: "At the very worst, we get closed down after noise complaints, and that prohibits our ability to put bands on and give them a performance base."
Rebellion puts on around 220 events each year.
The two skyscrapers were given approval last month, but the proposals had to go back before planners after the venue said they weren't properly consulted.
Jay Taylor from the Music Venue Trust says: "Plans have proceeded for both these developments without engaging in any meaningful way with the operators of the venue, so no conversations have been had about noise, about operational choices, about footfall, about how their customers come and go. There's been no consideration to that at all."
But today, concerns around the developments were considered as councillors reassessed the planning proposals and the plan was approved for a second time, as Alex Kostayakov watched on: "As a young person living in Manchester, I totally understand the need for new housing."
He went on to say: "We'll have our door open, and we hope the developers talk to us."
"We want to be amicable, we want to work with them, we want to co-exist alongside them, but that only works if they talk to us."
