Leeds based Evans Property Group has secured planning approval for a prime site on Ducie Street, within Town Centre Securities’ award winning Piccadilly Basin regeneration development, to deliver a 137 bedroom Dakota Deluxe hotel.
This forms part of Evans’ strategic plans to bring its luxury Dakota brand hotels to all key UK regional cities in the next five years. The Manchester venue follows on from Dakota’s other hotels, the most recent opening being the Glasgow City Centre Dakota Deluxe in April last year, which complements the pre-existing hotels at Eurocentral on the outskirts of Glasgow and South Queensferry, Edinburgh.
The Leeds City Centre Dakota Deluxe is nearing completion and will open on 1 May 2017, as part of Evans’ £25 million pound regeneration of the Bond Court area of the city.
The 0.6 acre Manchester site has been acquired from Town Centre Securities (TCS), the regeneration experts behind the £300m landmark Piccadilly Basin, an award winning 14 acre waterside mixed-use scheme situated in the heart of Piccadilly, within the core of the city and adjacent to Manchester Piccadilly train station.
Evans has secured planning consent from Manchester City Council for the design-led hotel and work will commence on site in the summer with the opening earmarked for Spring 2019. Plans include the creation of high quality public realm and comprehensive landscaping with improved linkages to the Rochdale Canal.
The hotel is the next development site to be brought forward at Piccadilly Basin along with recent plans to convert Brownsfield mill into luxury apartments and the commencement on site of Burlington House, a 91 apartment scheme designed by Simpson Haugh Architects.
Alan Syers, Portfolio Director at Evans Property Group, said;
“We are delighted to secure planning consent for Manchester and to continue the expansion of the Dakota boutique hotel brand in partnership with the Dakota team, including the forthcoming opening of Leeds. Our close relationship with TCS has enabled us to secure such this key site to support our expansion plans for Dakota Hotels. Piccadilly Basin is an impressive and established development in a strategically important and bustling area of Manchester, ideally situated adjacent to one of the UK’s busiest train stations and proposed future terminal of the HS2.
“Manchester is one of the strongest leisure and business destinations in the North of England and one of the most successful in the UK outside of London, so we are confident we have found the perfect site. The Leeds hotel is close to delivery and we are now actively seeking suitable sites or buildings in target cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford for additional Dakota hotels of circa 70,000 sq ft with around 100 bedrooms.”
Rachel Poole, Assistant Director, Deloitte LLP, who acted for Evans commented:
“It is an excellent result to secure planning permission for this high quality, Dakota Deluxe hotel in Piccadilly Basin. The proposal accords with the regeneration objectives of the area and will act as a catalyst and set a precedent for future development in this area as outlined in the Piccadilly Basin Strategic Regeneration Framework. The provision of a 5* hotel will provide a differentiated hotel offer supporting Manchester’s continued growth as a visitor destination.”
