The Piccadilly Tower (Eastgate or Inacity Tower) is a proposed development designed by

Woods Bagot Woods Bagot is a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in the design and planning of buildings across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines. Former names of the practice include Woo ...

Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...

, England and could rise again.

History

The developer proposed to build a 58-storey, 188 m (617 ft)

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

. The tower would have 420 residential units and a 220-bed hotel, as well as a fitness centre, conference facilities, restaurants and bars. New public walkways would be constructed along the

Ashton Canal The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne. Route The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...

adjacent to the site. Three underground floors would provide car parking for residents through an NCP public car park. A 17-storey "East build" section would comprise retail/commercial/residential space. The site, a car park on a railway viaduct to the rear of Piccadilly Station between Store Street and Ducie Street was purchased by Inacity for £14 million in 2003. The planning application was submitted in 2004 and was approved in March 2005. The cost of the development is around £220 million. The project was a joint venture between Inacity and Merepark, but has been sold to Irish property developers

Ballymore Group Ballymore Group is an Ireland-based international property development company. The majority of the company's employees and business activities are located in the UK. History Ballymore Group was founded in 1982 by Sean Mulryan, who is the c ...

, with Inacity retaining a small share. It will be Ballymore's first development in Manchester. Groundwork started in January 2008, to be completed in August 2008. The work consisted of demolishing eight viaduct arches, redirecting a sewer, and constructing a 19 m deep concrete retaining wall to the north, where the site is adjacent to a canal. On 8 September 2008 Inacity announced the project was on hold due to the

financial crisis of 2007–2010 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline o ...

, and construction would not resume until the economy stabilised. The site was converted back to a carpark. As of 2018, the site is still owned by original developers Ballymore. The site is currently used as a car park. Ballymore has objected to numerous developments nearby, such as the renovation of Gateway House, which would block access to Piccadilly station, suggesting the scheme is still alive – at least as a proposal. Image:Piccadilly Tower Site 2.JPG, The site for Piccadilly Tower in February 2008 (facing south) Image:Piccadilly Tower (April 2008).jpg, The site of Piccadilly Tower in April 2008 Image:ManchesterBuildingsHeightPiccadillyTower.JPG, Proposed height of the completed Piccadilly Tower, compared to the height of other existing and approved tall buildings in Manchester.

References

{{UKSkyscrapers Proposed buildings and structures in Manchester Proposed skyscrapers in England Skyscrapers in Manchester