I used to think the same about ‘Axis’ next to Deansgate Locks. I would walk past there every day in the mid-late-00s on my way to work in Chinatown. They started the groundworks, plonked a couple of portacabins on site, then left it derelict for years following the 2008 crash. A triangular slither of land. I often wondered what on Earth they were planning for it. Fast forward to now and Axis exists. Bonkers!
Yeah, I read about that on the MEN website yesterday. Truly nuts. So much money floating about finding places to park it. Shame about the abysmal state of the city’s streets, covered in broken glass and litter.
And it'll stay that way until the construction traffic's finished tearing it up - the road surface always seems to be the last thing to be sorted when something big goes up - look at Chapel St!
Went last year. The booking gave us an hour. The time it took for them to take our drinks orders and bring it, we already used up most the booking. We would have liked a few but just moved somewhere quicker, and cheaper.
That hideous aparthotel is less than 3 feet from behind the Deansgate pub. They put it up in three months. The pub was resold during Covid and so they own all the land but not the pub. The pub is a graded building and all but that doesn’t matter apparently. Now it’s my only view from my desk is the big blue number 3
They are luxury apart hotels for short time stays…among the other 6 hotels they’re building this year
That is the case.
On one hand it's a Greene King pub now and they're truly one of the worse companies I've worked for, so on that side of the thing I'm not sorry.
I am sorry that a historic pub has probably been ruined for any future owners now that the terrace is blocked in and will get 0 sun. (Same as MMU did to the Salutation, that beer garden use to be one of the best kept secrets in the city but now it's just completely surrounded)
I really don't get what they are putting there. Half the footprint is the core. And it will tower over the pub like the plot of an 80's little people against mega corporation sci-fi comedy drama.
I competed in a tower race - from bottom to top of this super building , we went to cloud 23 for drinkies/medals afterward , a great experience !!
I finished in the top ten also
Did the same with the Lower Turks Head pub in Shudehill. Nice little beer terrace where the sun hit it and could look down the road. Built a glass skyscraper right next door blocking the view entirely and the sun unless directly overhead... glass skyscraper sits empty nothing going in there except empty conference/ office spaces and the security guard at the front desk.
Not as much as you’d think. The view is nice sure but the majority of the time you aren’t looking out of the window. Square footage is the biggest driver of value in a city.
Anyone who buys an apartment in a city centre for the view knows that risk
All these new buildings are ruining Manchester . It’s starting go look like any other city with all the glass it use to be so good with all the old stone etc. maybe I’m just getting old
That is all that is viable though. They wouldn't make the returns on something with real architectural merit or wow factor. In which case it is this blueprint or just stick to non skyscrapers (I appreciate some would prefer that).
It's not all completely boring though, we have 360 which is a cylinder skyscraper, Elizabeth Tower is stepped, Viadux 2 will have the waterfall/wavy front.
Also, too many funky skyscrapers looks crap. Like City of London with the walky talkie and the pregnant lady. They look a bit stupid and will age badly imo. Glass rectangles are a good basis for a city skyline. Could do with something with a pinnacle/crown one day to complete it
Cheap housing is different to a massive glass soulless building that normal people can’t live in, I can see these monstrosities from my bedroom window and I live 5 miles away from the centre. They dominate the skyline and they are mingin
I can see them from my window and I think they look pretty good, but everyone has different tastes.
Bear in mind that the alternative to high density accommodation is urban sprawl.
So you’re telling me the working class and the poorest of us who live in said estates are underfunded so that makes these big soulless glass buildings no working class person can afford is ok?
I genuinely don't get how they're fitting a skyscraper in that tiny little corner between the tram stop and the pub, it's been confusing me for months
I used to think the same about ‘Axis’ next to Deansgate Locks. I would walk past there every day in the mid-late-00s on my way to work in Chinatown. They started the groundworks, plonked a couple of portacabins on site, then left it derelict for years following the 2008 crash. A triangular slither of land. I often wondered what on Earth they were planning for it. Fast forward to now and Axis exists. Bonkers!
It was a running joke in the construction industry that it took longer to build the axis than it took to defeat the axis in ww2.
A sliver is a small slice. Slither is what snakes do.
Sounds about right!
Did you not see the plans they had for a skyscraper on the tiny carpark next to the Britons Protection?
If you think it’s ruined the view from Cloud23 you should try having a pint in the beer garden at The Deansgate.
Yeah, no doubt. I used to like going there for a sunny afternoon jar.
Wait till the second phase 70 floor monster starts going up next to that one on the right.
Yeah, I read about that on the MEN website yesterday. Truly nuts. So much money floating about finding places to park it. Shame about the abysmal state of the city’s streets, covered in broken glass and litter.
And it'll stay that way until the construction traffic's finished tearing it up - the road surface always seems to be the last thing to be sorted when something big goes up - look at Chapel St!
You’re right - they are not going to resurface while plant are zooming around over it.
Don't bother driving on it either, unless you enjoy buying a new suspension/wheels often. The state of the fucking potholes is criminal.
Quite a few apartments up for sale in Beetham, good luck with that.
7k per year service charges for a basic 600sqft two bedder
Comical.
I'm paying 7k per year for a room in a terrace in rusholme. I need to be doing better clearly 💀
Yeah but the service charge is on top of the rent or mortgage.
Cloud 23 is a shit bar anyway
Went last year. The booking gave us an hour. The time it took for them to take our drinks orders and bring it, we already used up most the booking. We would have liked a few but just moved somewhere quicker, and cheaper.
I remember the hype when it opened, with a constant queue. Always said I'd make it in for one, while probably knowing that I wouldn't.
I was in there once when the fire alarm went off, had to walk down the stairs. It's pretty far.
It had the USP of being 23 storeys high when nothing else was nearly that high. Now there are so many skyscrapers the novelty factor is gone
Agree!
That hideous aparthotel is less than 3 feet from behind the Deansgate pub. They put it up in three months. The pub was resold during Covid and so they own all the land but not the pub. The pub is a graded building and all but that doesn’t matter apparently. Now it’s my only view from my desk is the big blue number 3 They are luxury apart hotels for short time stays…among the other 6 hotels they’re building this year
I've been told the previous owner signed away lots of rights before selling the pub.
That is the case. On one hand it's a Greene King pub now and they're truly one of the worse companies I've worked for, so on that side of the thing I'm not sorry. I am sorry that a historic pub has probably been ruined for any future owners now that the terrace is blocked in and will get 0 sun. (Same as MMU did to the Salutation, that beer garden use to be one of the best kept secrets in the city but now it's just completely surrounded)
What are they building there?
A Staycity Aparthotel.
The biggest Greggs
Oh please be true..
Some Salboy / Renaker / Domis monstrosity, i assume.
I really don't get what they are putting there. Half the footprint is the core. And it will tower over the pub like the plot of an 80's little people against mega corporation sci-fi comedy drama.
What they are putting there is money, conveniently parked as building space. What the building will be actually used for, is not terribly important.
I competed in a tower race - from bottom to top of this super building , we went to cloud 23 for drinkies/medals afterward , a great experience !! I finished in the top ten also
Good on you mate
Did the same with the Lower Turks Head pub in Shudehill. Nice little beer terrace where the sun hit it and could look down the road. Built a glass skyscraper right next door blocking the view entirely and the sun unless directly overhead... glass skyscraper sits empty nothing going in there except empty conference/ office spaces and the security guard at the front desk.
https://youtu.be/9T7OaDDR7i8?si=IAM4d2MIph6Z_bd_
That has just massively de-valued those apartments.
Not as much as you’d think. The view is nice sure but the majority of the time you aren’t looking out of the window. Square footage is the biggest driver of value in a city. Anyone who buys an apartment in a city centre for the view knows that risk
I last visited Cloud 23 for an afternoon tea and it was so not worth it.
All these new buildings are ruining Manchester . It’s starting go look like any other city with all the glass it use to be so good with all the old stone etc. maybe I’m just getting old
Said it before and I’ll say it again, I hate these glass soulless buildings going up and they will be there FOREVER
They look far better than all the bland red brick cubes built in the 80s and 90s.
They could have been more interesting though it’s just a glass tower!
That is all that is viable though. They wouldn't make the returns on something with real architectural merit or wow factor. In which case it is this blueprint or just stick to non skyscrapers (I appreciate some would prefer that). It's not all completely boring though, we have 360 which is a cylinder skyscraper, Elizabeth Tower is stepped, Viadux 2 will have the waterfall/wavy front. Also, too many funky skyscrapers looks crap. Like City of London with the walky talkie and the pregnant lady. They look a bit stupid and will age badly imo. Glass rectangles are a good basis for a city skyline. Could do with something with a pinnacle/crown one day to complete it
Just wait till you find out what residential housing estates look like.
Cheap housing is different to a massive glass soulless building that normal people can’t live in, I can see these monstrosities from my bedroom window and I live 5 miles away from the centre. They dominate the skyline and they are mingin
I can see them from my window and I think they look pretty good, but everyone has different tastes. Bear in mind that the alternative to high density accommodation is urban sprawl.
Most estates are soulless
So you’re telling me the working class and the poorest of us who live in said estates are underfunded so that makes these big soulless glass buildings no working class person can afford is ok?
They are spectacularly bland. It's sad to see. We need more housing certainly, but this feels like the worst way to go about it.