MANCHESTER BUILDING BOOM 2024 | Future Vision To Reality - See it now

[@AidanEyewitness]

Please leave a comment. I'll reply as soon as I can. +++ ERROR MESSAGE +++ it's the RENAULT dealership on Trinity Way, NOT Citroën, my mistake! C'est ma faute! Merci!

[@English_Dawn]

That's O.K. I have tried many places to find out about the scrolling-rolling news service I definitely saw. Drew a blank in almost every case. It was early '60's, what became dot matrix as things evolved. It fascinated me. It irked me that there was no confirmation from any source. A chap I worked with mentioned his mother remembered it and she said "It was above a jewellers". You doubly confirmed it. It was right on the roof and could be seen from all Piccadilly Gardens. I am amazed it was not on many/any photographs or in accounts. It was Pre-Arndale when Mcr city centre was very different. If you started taking photos in the mid 80's it's a pity you didn't start 15 years before. A whole swathe from Market Street to Shudehill, streets, courts etc gone forever under the Arndale Centre. Interesting about Viadux and the railway arches. When the Midland and Great Northern came to build Central and the Warehouse, there was a Cheshire Lines Warehouse too next to where Windmill Green is) , they weren't building on a green field site. Mcr had two towns, a mile apart, separated by green fields. The Romans left a vicus, an active town. This became the Saxon Alport. The Normans moved a new nexus next to the parish church, later cathedral. Both towns developed independantly. Indeed Mcr only achieved corporation status in the 1840's. Alport became an intensely commercial and residential district with many terraced houses and factories side-by-side. It was this conglomerstion that attracted Francis Egerton, the Duke of Bridgwater, to reach with his canal and the later James Brindley hoist. Not really the distant Mcr next to the Cathedral. The people and factories of Alport were his target. Salboy is constructing in what was a very industrialised and functioning neighbourhood already before the railway arrived. On Deansgate near Great Bridgwater Sreet, many people might remember the colour green very much. Under the railway arches was a central ambulance station that once had green painted doors. Just further up Deansgate on the same side was the Green Shield Shop where many people redeemed their prizes after handing in their Green Shield Stamp books. There was the Ribble Bus Station near Great Bridgwater Street and Lower Mosley Street. Near Bridgwater Hall. Thank you for your interest. 🙂👍

[@immortallvulture]

Great video. Manchester changes so fast

[@AidanEyewitness]

That's very true and it seems to be changing on every street corner! Many thanks!

[@Roddersville]

Great update on current and future developments in our great city ! Thank you Aidan for all your efforts.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks, plenty more where this one came from. I just need to manage my other project (online language teaching) so I have more time for making my AidanEyewitness videos.

[@lordgemini2376]

Great development recap as always. Can't wait to see what the future holds for Manchester!

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks! As I like to say 'Keep watching AidanEyewitness' and actually that's a throwback to my old website Eyewitness in Manchester. I often wrote 'Keep reading Eyewitness in Manchester'!

[@Cinemaker]

Fantastic video, as fascinating and informative as ever. Will be interesting to see how the Debenhams building progresses, I remember going there as a child many times Christmas shopping. Keep up the good work A! Looking forward to the next one.

[@flywithmeUK]

Fantastic dokument and nice comment :)

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks for the good feedback!

[@yusuffulat6954]

exciting !

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks!

[@slightlyobeserat5781]

from nyc, and I love the way you describe the growth of such a city. all of these projects seem super impressive and you really know how to get people engaged :)

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks, I appreciate your comment. I try to be an intermediary between the general public and the developers/architects/city authorities. News media tend to copy and paste press releases. I write my own script, and try to avoid jargon and cliché. Do you mean you are from NYC?

[@slightlyobeserat5781]

yes sir I am, so much development on the outer boroughs now but there's no one like u to keep track of It all@@AidanEyewitness

[@MrTSK27]

Great times to be alive in Manchester. Is Renault the site mentioned..not Citroën. They have been there years but not the right location in 2023.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Oh, no, I don't believe it, I got the wrong French car manufacturer! The right name was staring me in the face. I'll put an error message on my pinned message. Thanks for pointing out the mistake!

[@darrensellers]

Another great video

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks for the feedback, it gives me great encouragement!

[@dronefootagevideos]

Great Video Aidan!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thank you very much, I appreciate it from a fellow KZbinr!

[@steveygee1]

Thanks great shots and great info.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks for your positive comment!

[@-scgg-gg7938]

just amazing

[@AidanEyewitness]

What building or thing in particular do you find amazing? Many thanks!

[@-scgg-gg7938]

⁠@@AidanEyewitnessI really like the new tower next to the Union Bank Picadilly

[@English_Dawn]

@@AidanEyewitness The Trinity Island cluster in a backwater area, St Michael's likewise, the Union Bank idea with South-facing sloping roof and the New Heritage Tower planned for Salford which seems to be coming to fruition.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@English_Dawn The New Heritage Tower - I must look that one up! Many thanks.

[@chrislethbridge1759]

Worth keeping an eye on what gets planned for the old Central Retail Park on Great Ancoats Street. Ditto RedBank!

[@English_Dawn]

I think there is movement currently with drawings or a picture of the Central Retail Site. Red Bank. I seem to have read that two sites at Red Bank, Red Bank(?) and Red Bank Plateau were recently given the wave through for some development for the Far East Consortium (?). Probably similar to the ones already constructed or under construction. I gather it's kind of a rolling programme that will eventually add one fifth of the city centre's population. Not far, near Angel Meadow, the once British Gas site, things seem to be moving with similar projects.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@English_Dawn Many thanks for the ‘tip offs’!

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, good point. The retail park has been empty for a long time now. A video about developments along the Great Ancoats Street axis would be interesting to do.

[@paulwild3676]

@@English_Dawn Victoria North is forecast to have the same population as Lancaster, around 50.000 people. The areas up to Alan Turing Way are the next big building zones. They have transformed Ancoats and now the ripple effect is reaching Miles Platting and New Cross on Oldham Road, and Collyhurst on Rochdale Road. Poverty levels in some areas of Manchester have dropped considerably, due to the influx of more prosperous people. One area which has seen a big drop in poverty rates, is Failsworth. The tram up to Oldham has made it easier for people to access Manchester from these areas. Oldham has also seen the biggest increases in wages in Greater Manchester, because people there can access better paid jobs in Central Manchester and Salford Quays.

[@shaz2761]

Nothing will happen for years I'm afraid

[@steverussell9340]

Excellent view of the changing face of Manchester- Got any information on the old Hotspur press building just off Whitworth st ?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Well there is a proposal to build a student tower and retain part of the old building but I’ve heard an objection has been raised as there are not enough affordable apartments. 😊

[@davdep]

Great video and keep building upwards Manchester!! from a envious southerner.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks, plenty more tall buildings -and videos about them - are on the way!

[@windingroadelven]

Cannot wait for the 240 tower finally somebody building something that looks different to all the square buildings they have been building 300m tower is on the horizon

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, I think you could be right, but will Manchester ever have a skyline with some world beating towers, like in, for instance, Chicago?

[@ians3586]

Also like the 32 story Northside tower next to the classical bank building. Reminds me of what was done with the Dime Savings Bank and Brooklyn Tower in NY. I think of the contrast between the description Morrissey gave of Manchester in his autobiography and what we're witnessing here. It's really quite something.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes there is quite a contrast. But despite the economic stagnation and lower level of development compared to today, Manchester from the mid-70s into the 80s was an exciting, creative place.

[@JohnnyZenith]

Here is Aiden, back witnessing Manchester with his eye. Permanently angry at this idiot government ruining HS2 to Leeds and Manchester.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, that's true! Hoping that 2024 will be a turning point and that 'things can only get better' as was sung in 1997.

[@TheSadButMadLad]

As I walk around Manchester during my lunch break taking the odd random picture (1000 photos in a year) I do notice that rate of change is dramatic compared to when I lived in Rusholme during the late 80s early 90s. Then the centre of Manchester was dead and a no go area after 5pm. Now it''s alive 24/7.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes that’s very true. It’s unprecedented.

[@ians3586]

Wow, love the visualisations for the Debenhams building. The modern addition isn't so quite in your face as the Ancoats Dispensary. I think it's admirable that they preserved the facade of the dispensary and it I think they've done a fair job of it (especially harmonizing the colours and the rebuilding of the tower) but the blocky modern top, where you expect a steeply pitched and decoratively tiled roof, is a bit jarring. The Debenhams building was already quite blocky and muscular so the glass structure on top doesn't detract from the original structure (the fact that it is all glass helps) and it also appears to be well set back from the facade.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks - it looks like the Debenhams building is going to look good in its new guide. That's a building with a lot of history. It was originally Rylands and it wasn't a department store, it was just a textile warehouse, built in the 1930s according to the fashionable art deco style. In later years it was Pauldens department store and after that, Debenhams until they ceased trading. The exterior is fantastic, very exotic. The restoration is sympathetic. I'm sure the white façade will - as they say - "scrub up well". The glass addition on the roof looks good. I think it has solar panels on the sloping 'sawtooth' roof elements. I see what you mean about the Ancoats new section, it is - as they say "no oil painting". It's boxy and functional. I think they had to do it on a budget, so no fancy architecture here. So just stay round the front and use your imagination to visualise how it might have looked in the past, like Bodiam Castle! :)

[@benusmaximus3601]

Sehr gut, mein freund...

[@AidanEyewitness]

Vielen Dank für dein positives Feedback, mein Freund!

[@paulmason6474]

Could you compile a video of the Upper Brook Street ( Ardwick) Planning permission has just been granted despite objections. I live on Kincardine Rd the other side from Brunswick St. Thank you

[@iamjoestafford]

Wow, I've just read about this - I work at the university but had no idea it was on the cards. Do you know if WH Lung supermarket will survive? It's a shame these developments often get rammed through despite local objections - I'm of the opinion that consent should always be secured for such major projects, but in this case they apparently even ignored local councillors.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Kincardine Rd I know it well. And WH Lung. I’ll take a look

[@empireofnoise2200]

Ancoats Hospital looks nice glad they saved it

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, it does, the façade is magnificent, even if the new building behind it is pretty functional.

[@onlineperson123]

There's a lot of interesting new developments in Manchester. I'd love to know more about the Cotton Quay development, the renderings look fantastic, but I haven't seen much news on the project as of late. Do you know anything about this @Aidan?

[@AidanEyewitness]

That’s in the New Islington Wharf area, which I’ve featured previously. I’ll keep an eye out for it and maybe featured in a future video. Many thanks

[@KJ-js7pi]

I am very jealous. So many cities and towns would kill for this level of investment.

[@AidanEyewitness]

That’s a very good point! In the past Manchester has been starved of investment. 🙁

[@matthewlee8725]

"Co-op Live will put Manchester into an exclusive club of cities with large venues as with Madison Square Garden in New York and the O2 in London"? Manchester arena already has a higher capacity than both of them.

[@AidanEyewitness]

I was just quoting what was in the publicity, seems like you are right.

[@benockendon8939]

Hi Aidan, are you up to speed on the development of the Ardwick monster? No spades in the ground as of yet, but an interesting one to consider

[@AidanEyewitness]

I'd heard about this, and the possible demolition of WH Lung where I used to shop very frequently. It is a monster and slightly out of the 'tall buildings' zone along the Mancunian Way. It's quite a project. The Manchester Evening News quotes a lot of 'developer-speak' in the article linked below! Many thanks for flagging this up, I think I'll look at this sooner rather than later. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/plans-monster-42-storey-student-27480542

[@chrisevans1192]

Hi are you doing a video on the contour towers anytime soon?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks for the tip off. I will take a look into it and if I can find some good information I will feature them. Many thanks.

[@chrisevans1192]

Thank you. Also I wonder when the viadux phase 2 will be consented. I hear it could be approved this year for work to commence. I don’t know if you have anymore info on this?

[@English_Dawn]

Middlewood Locks. Stalled? Are they going ahead as plans near the Nook or going higher with towers?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Middlewood Locks - I'm not sure I'll have to find out. The last time I was there, the site next to the railway viaduct was waiting for building to commence. Is that The Nook?

[@English_Dawn]

Thanks, yes that's the Nook at the Northern end, where the lines converge. I remember it being a mix of residential and commercial. Working From Home has been a "gamechanger". Residential is fashionable, commercial less so. Salboy pivoted with Viadux Phase 2. Middlewood[?].

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@English_Dawn Well I saw the visualisations for 'The Nook' on the boards, when I visited Middlewood Locks last year. The plans included offices. I think I'll have to do down and visit the shoe shine man for some information, and take a few 50 dollar bills to give him!

[@itsonlyme9938]

A YT from another channel with permission went up to top floor and they found some offices from when it was built a bit of a time warp I think it was oak panels on the walls I hope they don't destroy the panels

[@AidanEyewitness]

You are referring to the Union Bank building? That’s fascinating. I’d love to see that. Many thanks for flagging this up!

[@paulmason6474]

I see they are building a hotel facing the old Debenhams building can you enlighten us please? Thank you😅

[@AidanEyewitness]

A hotel? Is that on the Tib Street side or The other side?

[@MrTSK27]

On corner where building society was..above the shops..

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@MrTSK27 Thanks - Yes, that's right, I read it's a hotel. I'll research that further.

[@paulmason6474]

The price of the tickets are beyond the average person

[@AidanEyewitness]

You mean at Co-op Live. It always amazes me how much people will pay for concert tickets - 50, 80, 100 pounds and more, let alone VIP tickets. It seems there are enough people willing and able to pay that kind of money to fill the 23,500 seat stadium, though I'd doubt if many residents in nearby Clayton and Gorton could afford it.

[@iamjoestafford]

It is mad! A ticket to see Take That at the GMEX in 1994 cost £14.50, so £35 in today's prices - whereas even the cheapest nosebleed tickets were double that for their Coop Live tour, and most were well over £100. How on earth can that be justified? That's not even taking into account the fact that there are 40% less members in the band than there were 30 years ago!

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@iamjoestafford I didn’t know the prices had gone up so much, but in answer to your question, there are plenty of people out there with the money and the willingness to pay it. I think nowadays there are a lot more people on high salaries in Manchester than there were in the past.

[@KuroiGW2]

Bring on Viadux 2!

[@AidanEyewitness]

It’s on it’s way!

[@shaz2761]

Guessing you're a member of SSC forums.

[@AidanEyewitness]

As I spend all my time gathering information from local media, I don't participate much on these forums, though I ought to participate more.

[@The_Original_KL]

Glassworks still looks empty.

[@AidanEyewitness]

You’re right. Not sure what’s going on, Many thanks for flagging this ip!

[@The_Original_KL]

@@AidanEyewitness the thing is Salboy fought tooth and nail to get this development passed, then built it and so far it seems nobody wants it.

[@empireofnoise2200]

Don't like the facade of the new staduim

[@AidanEyewitness]

Bear in mind those black outer surfaces are going to carry gigantic electronic screens stretching around all four sides. The shape is functional but it's 2024, they don't build 'em like the Free Trade Hall any more!

[@markuserikssen]

I really appreciate your video updates. I feel sorry to say this, but that stadium is absolutely hidious! Very poor architecture. The newly added parts on Ancoats Dispensary also look awful. What were they thinking? This is not harmonious at all. Very disrespectul towards the old building.

[@markuserikssen]

@OpinionsAreOfMyOwn That's what I noticed, but that doesn't mean that the building itself is beautiful. And I don't precisely see giant advertisements in cities as something positive. It's cool, but it screams too much for attention. In fact, I would rather have less advertisements everywhere. We're already bombarded with ads everywhere.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@OpinionsAreOfMyOwn Thanks very much for the information. You can see on the visualisation that the outer surfaces are lit up. I didn't know it would be on all the time.

[@AidanEyewitness]

When you add to a heritage façade, there's always a dilemma. Do you attempt to mimic the heritage façade, as they did with Minshull Street Courts in the 1990s or do you add a completely new extension that contrasts with the old, as they did at the John Rylands Library. With Ancoats Dispensary, yes, the structure at the back is not going to win any architectural prizes, but it's unobtrusive, it doesn't try to upstage the heritage façade, which is the face of the building. At least they have tried to use a colour that blends with the brickwork. Should they have tried to reconstruct the old building? That would have cost many times more than the utilitarian building at the back. We have to be thankful the façade was saved, I understand that Urban Splash originally intended to demolish it. Focus on the front, try to ignore the back, is my advice! Thanks for sharing your views - I want all shades of opinion to be represented, as long as respectfully expressed, as yours is. :)

[@markuserikssen]

@@AidanEyewitness Thanks for your message. I appreciate this and your videos! I'm just surprised by how things are handled in Manchester.