ENGLISH Cities Fund (ECf) has announced that it has signed an agreement with Premier Inn to operate a 143-bed hotel and restaurant at the first phase of the New Bailey development – part of the £650 million Salford Central scheme. Construction is to begin in September 2013.
When complete, Salford Central – which is made up of two inter-dependent, but distinct areas, Chapel Street and New Bailey – will create around 11,000 new jobs, 220,000 square metres of commercial space, 849 new homes and 390 hotel rooms.
The £12.5 million hotel development, located on a half acre site at the corner of Irwell Street and Stanley Street, will also include a restaurant and bar, capitalising on its south facing, riverside location. The new Premier Inn hotel and restaurant will support the soon-to-be-announced Grade A office and commercial properties at New Bailey.
This first phase at New Bailey will create approximately 50 new jobs with a leading FTSE 100 leisure business. This employment boost is in line with Salford City Council’s and ECf’s plans to rejuvenate the once bustling area into a thriving new community.
Phil Mayall, development director at ECf, said: “This announcement is a great boost to the scheme. New Bailey will be the commercial quarter at the heart of the Salford Central development and the new Premier Inn will sit very well in supporting this.
“With the planning application now approved, and agreement with Premier Inn finalised, we are looking forward to work beginning on site.”
Salford’s Assistant Mayor for Planning, Councillor Derek Antrobus, said: “The New Bailey development is a key part of Salford’s growth. The new investment provided by Premier Inn is a welcome boost to the local economy.”
ECf – a joint venture between Muse Developments, Legal & General Property and The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – is now in talks with a building contractor, which will start work on site in September.
When complete, Salford Central – which is made up of two inter-dependent, but distinct areas, Chapel Street and New Bailey – will create around 11,000 new jobs, 220,000 square metres of commercial space, 849 new homes and 390 hotel rooms.
The new Premier Inn has been designed by RHWL Architects.
All the above was part of the official press release.
Confidential welcomes the changes happening over the river from Manchester city centre in the old centre of Salford. It's exciting.
We just wish that the design of the Premier Inn here wasn't so bleeding dull. This building could be in Telford, Milton Keynes, Middlesborough or Stoke as much as it could be in Salford/Manchester at the gateway to a key redevelopment. It betrays the engineering in the area if nothing else - click here and here for mighty examples of what surrounds it.
Economics of course have dictated this but sometimes it's hard not to want planning authorities to be tougher with developers. Then again, astonishingly, there are more than 52,000 Premier Inn bedrooms across the country, and Whitbread, the owners, want to increase this boggling number to over 75,000. Wow. No wonder there's no money left to spend on making buildings even remotely attractive.
Still, and alarmingly, you have to wonder about RHWL Architects hand in this. Are they proud of the design? They are capable of much better work as we know in this region. They did, after all, design the Bridgewater Hall.
(Jonathan Schofield)
Bridgewater Hall - a somewhat better design from RHWL, albeit one with a bigger budget
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