For 10 years the skyline of central Manchester has been dominated by the £150m Beetham Tower.
The 12th tallest building in the UK, and the biggest outside London at 169m (554ft), it was completed in 2006.
But the 47-storey home of the Hilton hotel on Deansgate could have a rival, if plans for a new Greengate development in Salford get the go-ahead.
Beetham Tower is one of the world’s thinnest skyscrapers – Wikipedia
Exchange Court is slated to be a 44-storey, 350-flat tower, designed by Salford firm OMI Architects.
Early stage indications are that this skyscraper could be as tall as 130 metres (426ft), with a 16-storey building next door.
The tower could change the Salford skyline forever – via yimbyforums.com
It’s on a relatively small parcel of land off Trinity Way, next to the River Irwell.
In December 2015 Silverlane Developments got consent to build what would be its closest neighbour – Norton Court – a pair of 14 and 34-storey towers in Greengate with a construction value in excess of £49 million.
They’ll be built on the site of the former Greengate and Irwell Rubber Works, which closed in the 1970s.
Full details and pics: Greengate towers get green light in Salford
Exchange Court will appear on the right of this picture, next to already-granted Norton Court on the left
The same developer is still building its 497-flat tower One Greengate after getting a £35 million funding boost from the Homes and Communities Agency last year.
One Greengate, also designed by OMI
It’s boom time in Salford for big developers with capital to spare, that’s no secret.
Just look at all the building work ongoing down on Ordsall Lane, with office developments by Captial & Centric and the Soapworks bringing in major employers to once vacant and run-down areas.
Salford and Ordsall office boom revealed: TalkTalk, Home Office, BUPA are year’s biggest deals
Read: Waxis are back! Manchester Water Taxis to start operating on Bridgewater Canal
Then there’s the residential Private Rented Sector schemes – housing developers snapping up relatively cheap land along the Manchester Ship Canal on the edge of Manchester city centre.
Read: ‘Downtown’ tower blocks on Woden Street recommended for approval
Ordsall housing boom: Bridgewater Point’s 220 flats pass planning
Exchange Court could include a rooftop garden of a similar style to the two-floor penthouse at Beetham, occupied by the luckiest architect in the region, designer Ian Simpson.
Its one, two and three-bed flats are expected to be aimed at the private rental market.
A planning application is due to be lodged with Salford City Council by the beginning of March.
