A developer wants to build up to 400 flats in a new tower block on a car park in Eccles, SalfordOnline.com can reveal.
The John William Street car park, 100 metres from Eccles town centre, is under offer to the unnamed developer for an undisclosed price.
Salford City Council have indicated plans for two levels of underground car parking, a retail store and ‘digital media centre’ on the ground level.
It would mean building a tower block at least 10 storeys high, but this is expected to be finalised later in the year.
That’s a similar height to the nearby Emerson House – home to Urban Vision – and the 14-storey Sentinel House, which was bought by Chinese investors in 2013 with the intention to turn the 13,000sq ft offices into a ‘tourist’s hotel’.
Read: 132-bed hotel plan for Eccles office building
Urban Vision put a for a 250-year leasehold on the public car park up for sale in May 2015.
The site comprises a surfaced, regular shaped level car park, with frontages to John William Street, Vicarage Grove and Birkdale Grove.
It is regularly used by shoppers, workers at the nearby office blocks, and commuters at Eccles railway station some 200 metres to the north.
It was sold on the basis of being a ‘development opportunity’, subject to planning permission being granted.
A planning application for the 1.27-acre site is expected to be lodged with council planners in early 2016.
Outline planning application was granted in 2009 for plans to build a new court building on the site.
It fell through with the government sell off of Salford Magistrates Court and merger with Manchester Magistrates Court in 2011.
Read: Eccles West One change will pave way to major Home Bargains move
As a condition of sale at John William Street the buyer will have to provide an agreed number of public car parking spaces.
Documents of sale state: “The council is seeking suitable town centre proposals that would maintain approximately 50% of the current public car parking provision and which would provide an appropriate extension or reinforcement of town centre uses.”
Council bosses are also considering making part of the multi storey car park available for public pay and display parking.
View of Eccles multi storey car park from Vicarage Grove, John William Street car park on left
Deputy City Mayor Councillor David Lancaster said: “This is exciting and very welcome news for Eccles.
“The site was originally earmarked for a new magistrates court but after those plans fell through we continued to seek interest in the site.
“There is a lot of detail to work through before a planning application goes in but, with the development of Sentinel House as a hotel and this proposal, the future is looking bright for Eccles.”
