St John's is a proposed £1 bn development of a 6 hectare plot within central
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, England.
The site is being developed by Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL), a partnership between
Manchester City Council and
Allied London.
Development

The development will see up to 2,500 homes, up to 600,000 sq ft of workspace, mostly aimed at creative industries, (80,000 sq ft of this via refurbishment of the Bonded Warehouse), up to 400,000 sq ft of leisure space, incorporating some of the existing entertainment and studio buildings.
The development will be on the former site of
Granada Studios but it will extend as far as the
Museum of Science and Industry and the
Marriott Hotel
Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 h ...
on Water Street.
SimpsonHaugh and Partners are behind the masterplan which will also see two fifty storey towers and three hotels, including the Granada Hotel incorporating the iconic red neon 'Granada TV' sign.
Factory International
The development will feature a new £110 million theatre and arts venue called Factory International. Its name comes from
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...
, the independent record label founded by the late
Tony Wilson. The flexible space will provide a permanent home to the
Manchester International Festival
The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...
.
The £9.5m design contracts were put out to tender in July 2015.
The successful company named by the council in November 2015 was the
Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with its lead designer
Rem Koolhaas.
The entire space will cover approximately and will be flexible enough to accommodate combined audiences of up to 7,000, although it is envisaged that it will operate mainly as a 1,600-seat theatre space plus a 5,000-capacity warehouse space.
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The opening ceremony was planned for the end of 2019, though this was later revised to June 2023.
References
External links
Development's website
Manchester City Council's Regeneration Team
{{Manchester
Areas of Manchester
Planned developments