Albany Crown Tower
Encyclopedia
The Albany Crown Tower was a planned development for the city of Manchester
in England
. Its proposed location is on Aytoun and Auburn Streets, fronting onto Rochdale Canal
and near Piccadilly Station
. If constructed it will be one of the tallest buildings in Manchester. It was expected to cost £83 million. It was designed by Ian Simpson, and was due to be developed by Albany Crown.
Planning permission was given in 2005 but as of late 2010 construction has still not commenced and the developer Albany entered administration in May 2010 seemingly leaving the project dead in the water.
Adjoining the main tower will be a smaller, 11 storey tower, at 49 m (160 ft), with approximately 14,500 square metres of space. This will be occupied by retail stores on the ground floor, and offices on the remaining floors.
The planning application for the development was submitted on 21 February 2005.
Albany then purchased the site in October 2005 for £6 million. Planning permission was approved on the 11 November 2005.
This was due for demolition in early 2006, however, it remains standing.
The project is currently believed to have stalled thanks to the failure of Albany Assets to sell all the apartments in their existing developments. There have been reports of the possibility of Virgin Group
boss Richard Branson
opening the first of a chain of Virgin City Hotels in the tower.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Its proposed location is on Aytoun and Auburn Streets, fronting onto Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
and near Piccadilly Station
Manchester Piccadilly station
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, South Wales, the south coast of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and routes throughout northern England...
. If constructed it will be one of the tallest buildings in Manchester. It was expected to cost £83 million. It was designed by Ian Simpson, and was due to be developed by Albany Crown.
Planning permission was given in 2005 but as of late 2010 construction has still not commenced and the developer Albany entered administration in May 2010 seemingly leaving the project dead in the water.
History
The original proposed height of the building was 131 m (430 ft), with 44 floors, providing 35,298.00 square metres of space. The ground floor will be occupied by retail stores, with floors 1 through 23 (140,000 square feet of space) occupied by a hotel. Floors 24 through 41 will be residential, while the top two floors will house a penthouse. In total there will be 237 flats. On 10 May 2007 it was revealed that Albany are now planning to add a further 10 stories to the main tower, increasing its size to over 160 m (525 ft).Adjoining the main tower will be a smaller, 11 storey tower, at 49 m (160 ft), with approximately 14,500 square metres of space. This will be occupied by retail stores on the ground floor, and offices on the remaining floors.
The planning application for the development was submitted on 21 February 2005.
Albany then purchased the site in October 2005 for £6 million. Planning permission was approved on the 11 November 2005.
Delays and difficulties
The site is currently occupied by a derelict 5-storey office building built in the 1960s, and occupied by the Labour Exchange, part of the Department of Employment.This was due for demolition in early 2006, however, it remains standing.
The project is currently believed to have stalled thanks to the failure of Albany Assets to sell all the apartments in their existing developments. There have been reports of the possibility of Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
boss Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
opening the first of a chain of Virgin City Hotels in the tower.
Postponement of project
After years of financial turmoil for the developer Albany Crown, they entered administration in May 2010 leaving a forlorn chance of the skyscraper ever being constructed. As of July 2011, over six years since planning permission had been granted, no brick has been laid.See also
- Beetham TowerBeetham Tower, ManchesterBeetham Tower is a landmark 47-storey residential skyscraper in Manchester city centre, England. Completed in 2006, it is named after the developers, Beetham Organization, was designed by Ian Simpson, and built by Carillion....
- the current tallest building in Manchester - Piccadilly Tower - an approved tallest building in Manchester at 188m currently on hold as of 2010
- Intercontinental Tower, ManchesterIntercontinental Tower, ManchesterThe Intercontinental Tower, Manchester is a proposed landmark skyscraper for construction in Manchester City Centre, England. The proposed high rise will be a 5-star luxury hotel run by InterContinental Hotels Group, and developed by Northern Irish Development firm, Benmore.The skyscraper was first...
- a proposed 200m skyscraper