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If you had any doubts that Deansgate was maturing into Manchester's next big business hub, then banish them.
The area, already dominated by Ask/Patrizia's First Street office blocks, will now see a £100M improvement of its historic but unfriendly railway station, with hints of a substantial commercial development to accompany it.
Henry Boot Developments has been chosen as preferrred developer for the scheme, at whose centre will be a rethink of the original 1849 station, North West Business Insider reports.
However, details are awaited on the larger commercial element.
The station will benefit from the Ordsal Cord rail infrastructure improvement which links the stations to the north of the city centre (Victoria and Salford Central) to the stations of the south (Deansgate, Oxford Road and Piccadilly).
Based on a 300-metre bridge, and completed in late 2017 after two years, the link is the centrepiece of the £1B Great North Rail Project to upgrade the region's transport links.
Deansgate is also due to see further office development as it morphs into the south-western anchor of Manchester city centre's office market. Four new towers and an additional 750K SF of offices are planned at First Street as new backers the Richardsons and Patrizia press on. Simultaneously, a land swap with Premier Inn owners Whitbread and Ask Real Estate, in a joint venture with the Richardson family and Patrizia, opens the door to a 480K SF office and leisure development.
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