Grade-II listed building in city centre to be transformed into flats and offices

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A derelict city-centre grade-II listed building is set to be transformed into flats and offices after plans were given the green light by the council.

McCauls and Great Places Housing Group have been given permission to build 89 new homes and 8,000 sq ft of office space on Laystall Street off Great Ancoats Street in the Northern Quarter.

The site includes the grade-II listed Armitage Showroom Building, dating back to 1879 which has been empty for some time, and car park space.

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The showroom building is said to be in a 'poor condition' and on the council's 'Building's at Risk' list. This building is to be restored into office 'flexible, co-working' office space and will be extended to the corner of Laystall Street and Pigeon Street where the car park currently sits.

Behind this showroom a nine-storey residential block will be built with a courtyard space in the middle.

These one and two bed apartments will included shared ownership and social rent homes. The split for this is still to be finalised, according to the developer.

The height of the building is fairly in keeping with the surrounding area with most buildings between five to nine storeys. This development would also be much smaller compared to the recently constructed 32-storey 'Oxygen' development on the corner of Store Street and Great Ancoats Street.

No car parking is provided on the site but 89 secure cycle spaces are to be provided.

The application sites that there are up to 3,532 parking spaces available within 750 metres of the development, including a number of disabled spaces.

Joe McCaul, director, McCauls said: “We are delighted to be working