One Heritage is in a hurry.

A planning application has been submitted to Salford City Council barely a fortnight after architects for the Hong Kong-based developer completed public consultation on plans for a 55-storey residential tower.

The skyscraper at Greengate, on the Manchester/Salford border, will be the tallest in Salford and will include one, two and three-bedroom apartments, as well as commercial space and major public realm improvements including a scenic river walkway.

The rash of tower plans on the Salford/Manchester boundary has prompted the area to be labelled Salchester, a nod toward the difficulty of explaining to out-of-area buyers that the city of Salford is in some senses next to, and in other senses inside, Manchester.

The 545-unit tower designed by OMI Architects will not be the tallest in the current development cycle: Deansgate Square's 65-storey South Tower wins. But the Salford plan will claim second spot, ahead the 52-storey planned Select Property's Elizabeth Tower, which is also fishing for sales in Hong Kong.

OMI said construction is due to commence in 2020 but progress on off-plan sales in Hong Kong is sure to determine the rate of progress.

Off-plan sales are not as easy to complete as they once were: In January, Allied London abandoned plans for a 54-storey Manchester apartment tower when advanced sales stalled.