They really are a couple of cores stuck on the GQ hill. Taken from the CIS building a week ago.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture444476.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture444480.jpg

How many apartemnts will this whole development house? Does anyone know?

Over 1000!

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/050-5.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/051-5.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/052-4.jpg

Wow very dense.

Its been so long building that project.

Just wishing for the day when it is all completed.

Having said that there is so much redundant land around Victoria that if this was be developed, then I might be waiting for a long time.

Crains today: work on Cypress place is to stop. Steel frame is to be completed but the flats will not be fitted out. Crosby are also halting works on the 'Brindley' black of Potato Wharf in Castlefield.

Gloomy outlook for apartments gives Crosby Potato blight

By Simon Binns

Crosby Lend Lease has put the brakes on its two mammoth residential schemes in Manchester city centre, stopping work on the construction of more than 300 apartments.

The Birmingham-based firm, which has a North West office in Altrincham, has decided to curtail work on one of the planned apartment blocks at its Potato Wharf development in Castlefield, with no indication of when it will resume. The block affected, Brindley, would have provided 102 apartments.

Construction has also been put on hold at Cypress Place, a 215-apartment block planned for Crosby's mixed-used Greenquarter scheme, in Cheetham Hill. The steel frame will be finished, but no work will be started on finish or fit-out. A public consultation will be held on July 16 to discuss the future of Potato Wharf, which Crosby said it still saw as a “sound long-term investment.”

Work on one of the other Potato Wharf apartment blocks, Saville, is still ongoing, as is Britton House and Vallea Court at Greenquarter.

David Teague, managing director at Crosby Lend Lease, said in a statement issued to Crain's: “Crosby Lend Lease will be postponing construction on Brindley at Potato Wharf in Manchester city centre. While the structural frame will be finished and secured, all other works to the block will be put on hold.'

“Construction of Saville at Potato Wharf is ongoing and when completed will provide a total of 111 designer apartments for city centre buyers.

“The decision to postpone construction is in our view, a prudent and sensible business decision taken in response to the current climate in the residential market and we are confident that these measures will help strengthen the position of Crosby Lend Lease once market conditions become more favourable.

“Whilst the residential market has slowed we are confident in the product offered at Potato Wharf and believe the high specification and the superb location of the development, together with Crosby Lend Lease's renowned reputation for build quality, still make Potato Wharf a sound long-term investment.

“On July 16 we are holding a public consultation at Potato Wharf regarding the future regeneration of the area. The proposals for Potato Wharf will see the replacement of the existing concrete works and industrial units with a new mixed use environment, together with new community and leisure uses.

'Prudent response'

“The proposals include plans to open up public space along the River Medlock creating a fully accessible waterside environment and to integrate the area with Castlefield, the city centre and the River Irwell.

“So although construction of Brindley is to be postponed for the time being, Crosby Lend Lease view Potato Wharf as a major regeneration project in the future development of Manchester.”

Crosby had tried to offer a range of incentives to stimulate interest in Potato Wharf, including the an offer by the developer to pay the buyers' five per cent deposit, a mortgage subsidy for 12 months, and “a complete range of fees”, according to advertising on a property sales website.

One agent, who asked not to be named, said that high pricing and the general market slowdown were to blame.

“It was a nice enough development, but it seems to have suffered in much the same way as a few new developments,” she said. “The pricing may have been slightly too high, especially in the current market, but both had generated good interest when they were launched.

“Schemes of this size will always find themselves exposed if the market turns on them.”

Crosby priced the apartments at Potato Wharf from £141,000 for a 470 sq ft one-bedroom flat to £257,000 for an 801 sq ft two-bedroom flat. At Greenquarter, prices started at £152,000 for a 449 sq ft one-bedroom flat up to £261,000 for an 821 sq ft two-bedroom flat.

In more fallout from the property downturn, Rok Development, part of building contractor Rok Group, has decided to dispose of its Manchester city centre office as the company seeks to cut costs.

Stuart Longbottom, managing director of Rok Development, told Crain's the decision to move was more about consolidating the division than closing it down.

“Our development office in Manchester is on the market, as we are looking to reduce our exposure to property development,” he said. “A number of people left us at the turn of the year and we already have offices in Salford Quays that are more than adequate for our current needs. When the Manchester office is sold the remainder of the team will be moved to Salford Quays. City centre offices are expensive to run and we are simply looking to reduce our costs.”

Meanwhile, Harrogate-based City Lofts has been relieved of its involvement in the Milliners Wharf residential scheme in Ancoats.

Joint venture

The development was originally a joint venture between City Lofts, which according to its 2006 annual report had a 50 per cent stake in the project, and an unnamed Australian firm. The project was funded by Abbey. However, Abbey is understood to have exercised a 50 per cent charge over City Lofts' share in the project. The Australian firm and Abbey are believed to be fully committed to completing the project.

Clive Williamson, managing director of Manchester-based Ocon Construction, which is the main contractor on the scheme, told Crain's it was “business as usual” for the development and payments originally agreed by the developer would still be made to Ocon as promised. City Lofts, whose group company is in administration while a Law of Property Act receiver sells off its unsold property portfolio, declined to comment.

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080714/FREE/261707972/0/newsletter02/-/-/gloomy-outlook-for-apartments-gives-crosby-potato-blight

Gloomy. Especially when you consider the force with which GQ has pressed ahead with so far.

I was naive in thinking that buildings which had frames started would unlikely be ceased.

actually, if cypress place is the one I think it is, surely it's past the stage the Crain's article suggests?

^and people think because a few piles are being laid at Piccadilly Tower there's no chance of that being shelved. We need to start getting real.

What a horrible blight it will be on the rest of the quarter.

^and people think because a few piles are being laid at Piccadilly Tower there's no chance of that being shelved. We need to start getting real.

What has that got to do with this?

Buildings stuck at the steel frame stage are quite a common sight in Spain.

Actually, concrete frame stage in Spain.

cypress place is the one bang in the centre of marky's 1st picture. It's certainly much more than a steel frame. methinks another crain's mistake.

Crosby priced the apartments at Potato Wharf from £141,000 for a 470 sq ft one-bedroom flat to £257,000 for an 801 sq ft two-bedroom flat. At Greenquarter, prices started at £152,000 for a 449 sq ft one-bedroom flat up to £261,000 for an 821 sq ft two-bedroom flat.

It strikes me as odd that it's dearer to live in the Green Quarter than it is to live in Potato Wharf...I got the impression the Green Quarter was all about 'affordable living'.

ok. i heard a month ago one of the green quarter towers was being put on hold, one of the under construction ones. i might as well say now i also heard that the piccadilly tower would be put on hold and that albany would be scaling down their tower to half the size and it was now being designed by HKR. i hear rumours all the time though, seems the green quarter one has proven to be true.

I tell you guys, give it a few months and all this sky falling in crap will be long forgotten. Look to the future, and here it is. Beautiful, just beautiful. Sheesh, I live in Sandbanks, but I want to get me some of that. Knockout. Opportunity knocks, if you catch my drift.

come again?

come again?

I hope not.

albany would be scaling down their tower to half the size and it was now being designed by HKR.

Cheers Gothic. Good or bad, it's always good to hear snippets and it's clear that you're fairly well connected circles to say the least.

In the current climate, I'd have to say that the Albany rumour is good news. 20 storeys would still make an impression indeed a significant one in that part of the city and furthermore on the skyline.

Coupled to the rumour that Virgin want to put their first hotel there and are close to signing a contract, that could well mean something potentially starting within the next 12 months?

It's been said before but what a spot for a landmark hotel, directly in between the Malmaison and City Inn and visible, both as you exit Piccadilly Station and from Piccadilly Gardens!

that would be 25 storeys. although you never saw it, the design did apparently increase to 50 so half that is 25 :) 25 is what i have been told. there's plenty of other rumours but i dont think ill tell people because i have no idea how accurate they are!

www.webbaviation.co.uk

http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/32929-1/GreenQuarter-RedBank-cb18490.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=1a9eb36665b88ac7bc81935e398a3551

http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/32927-1/GreenQuarter-RedBank-cb18318.jpg?

I think they all look great, has this real dense yet organised look.. I can't imagine paying all that money for one of these apartments n maybe having a prison as your more prominant landmark.. :| nice building or otherwise, its weird.

sunday.
another building with workmen on site on a sunday morning.

further pics http://www.skyscrapernews.com/gallery.php?id=2569&idi=Britton+House&images=all

britton house (3 pics)
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/2569BrittonHouse_pic28.jpg

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/2569BrittonHouse_pic32.jpg

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/2569BrittonHouse_pic29.jpg

and a bit of the hotel, and green quarter overall
http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/2008_08_17/green%20quarter/IMG_6415%20copy.jpg

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/2008_08_17/green%20quarter/IMG_6416%20copy.jpg

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/2008_08_17/green%20quarter/IMG_6437%20copy.jpg

Thanks again Comdot. There's something about this development that I like. I think it's the clean window lines and the bright white "Miami" twenty-first-century look to it.

i like it too. i think a lot forumers know by now that i'm not much of a nimby. :bowtie:

don't think i've posted these.
there are more here http://www.skyscrapernews.com/gallery.php?id=5569&idi=City+Park&images=all

is tht 6 floors already then? wonder which will top out first. don't think axis is in the running now but i've no idea really. 1 new york street? odds anyone? :) oh and vantage point has sprung up and is in the running. not quite the final furlong yet but getting close. :drool:
and i'm not sure it's quite time for polish builders to go home yet.

http://i.pbase.com/g4/68/664468/2/61238412.IMG_0725.jpg
-not my picture btw:).

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/5569CityPark_pic14.jpg

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/5569CityPark_pic17.jpg

Oh, I thought this whole development had come to a standstill with 'la Crunch'..

Obviously I misread whatever it was... I was reading :| Good to see its still going on (and up)..

yep, just the fitout of cypress place (http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=5198) has been put on hold hasn't it? that's all i recall.

Isn't the GQ supposed to have a large green grass area? Where will it go? They've built on every available inch! Every now and again i have a cycle over there to see what's happening and i usually get so frustrated at the hoardings and dead ends that i give up and leave.

gated communities, so to speak. you only get the greenery if you've got a fob.

Thanks again Comdot. There's something about this development that I like. I think it's the clean window lines and the bright white "Miami" twenty-first-century look to it.

More like Novosibirsk

http://www.invisibile.net/dust/images/mezzosogno.jpg

or La Scampia in Naples.

I fear for this place.

yeah, shit, i fear that the penthouses in jefferson place are the slums of tomorrow.

not.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2788057338_28137d8dd6.jpg?v=0

Can somebody put a spirit level on the GQ.

I'd be interested to know what the section 106 payments were on this one, and what they were spent on, because it doesn't seem like any social infrastructure has been put in place.

Construction of Greenquarter hotel’s frame begins

By Simon Binns

Construction on the steel and concrete frame has started on the new £37m Park Inn Hotel at Crosby Lend Lease’s Greenquarter, due to open next May.

The hotel, which is being developer by City Park Manchester and will be managed by the Rezidor Hotel Group, will have 252 rooms, several suites, a restaurant with 145 covers, bar, lounge, and outdoor terrace. Leisure facilities at the new hotel will include a fitness room, sauna, steam room, swimming pool and treatment rooms.

Martin Jackson, director at City Park, said: “The structure and external walls should be finalised by the end of this year and completion is expected by May.”

Apart from the hotel, the Greenquarter will comprise seven residential blocks and 128,000 sq ft of Grade A commercial space.

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080826/FREE/877293/1062/breaking/-/-/construction-of-greenquarter-hotels-frame-begins

Good stuff. Thanks flange.

http://ckimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CK&Date=20080826&Category=FREE&ArtNo=877293&Ref=AR&Profile=1062&maxw=300

erm isn't that ^^ a picture of cypress place?

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/5198CypressPlace_pic6.jpg

City Park, Manchester

Value: £24m
Completion date: August 2009
Contract period: 100 weeks

City Park Offices comprises a 10 storey 9,290 sq m Grade A office accommodation. A stunning 4 storey high winter garden will provide a superb approach to the office entrance.

City Park has been designed with large open plan floor plates offering the flexibilty to create an environment tailored to individual requirements.

Client: Development Securites Ltd

http://www.bandk.co.uk/sectors/commercial/city-park-manchester/

Could this development save the Green Quarter?

Well, possibly not. But it's refreshing to see something built there which shows some kind of regard to its surroundings (ie. cheetham hill road)

http://www.bandk.co.uk/sectors/commercial/city-park-manchester/

hmm

http://www.bandk.co.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=508&type=custom&servicetype=inline&customSizeId=3

erm isn't that a picture of cypress place?

Oh yes, so it is. Sorry Comdot. That was the pic on flanges link, and duh, I just didn't think.

easily done mate

city park hotel

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/2008_09_02/city%20park%20hotel%20green%20quarter%20cheetham%20hill%20manchester/IMG_6619%20copy.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/055-5.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/059-6.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202008/058-6.jpg

nice moody pics, that sky has been like that sice May!

hotel

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/26_09_2008/IMG_6868%20copy.jpg

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/26_09_2008/IMG_6873%20copy.jpg

http://www.nickgrayson.net/ssc/26_09_2008/IMG_6869%20copy.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee85/mancplanner_2007/manc03.jpg

Taken today from Shudehill.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23760352@N08/3096430585/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/3096430585_b1cd73f92c_o.jpg

have a picture of the Office block:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/Manchester/P1020158-1.jpg

It actually reminds me of the CIS building. Same cladding, external shaft. No photovoltaics though.

isn't it this building thread http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=405545

yep

i have no idea of how to feel about this scheme......

....as an urban designer, the mind boggles in absolute horror. i would love to have seen the design rationale behind this!

i have no idea of how to feel about this scheme......

....as an urban designer, the mind boggles in absolute horror. i would love to have seen the design rationale behind this!

There wasn't one. There was an egg carton, some glue, a few pieces of paper and some poster paint. God bless Tony Hart. He will be turning in his grave ATM.

... their contextual analysis would have been a hoot to read!

not saying i'm a fan of the design of this one but i think people are easily forgetting what the context actually is. MEN arena, a few warehouses, a polluted river that is largely in a tunnel, some railway viaducts, a large road bridge, a petrol station, a carpet shop. this is a fringe development and actually not inside the city centre.

exactly... and where else have you ever seen a frigne development have an average building height of between 15-20 storeys for all its buildings (speculation)

i can see a good case for a few tall buildings on the site acting as gateways into the city centre and rightly so, but it just harks at the 'stack them high, sell them off' menlity here.

whilst manchester has succeeded in having an open minded approach to its planning and regeration which has paid off on a number of successful scheme, i cant help but think its schemes like that that might and up to be the downfall of such an approach?

The first phase was a runaway success, and has won awards all over the place... these photos make the place look a bit shit because they are still building it... but most importantly if you don't live there you can't get into the nicer areas. It's not my cup of tea either, as it's very dense... but therefore affordable. And you can't argue with affordable city living.... Even more affordable now.

It's not the prettiest development in the world but then every city on the planet, even the world-class ones, has stuff like this. Honestly, you only get to hear about the high-quality stuff in London but you should see some of the utterly cynical, make-a-fast-buck-out-of-whatever-space-is-left shit that has been thrown up as well over the last decade.

whilst manchester has succeeded in having an open minded approach to its planning and regeration which has paid off on a number of successful scheme, i cant help but think its schemes like that that might and up to be the downfall of such an approach?

It's interesting that of all the city-centre fringe developments of recent years this one has become the most complete, established and succesful (in terms of sales). There's a dozen other masterplans for large areas surrounding the centrre, most of which didn't get off the drawing board before the shit hit the fan.

They certainly didn't piss about and that was perhpas the key. The good times were never gonna last forever and the developers realised that. But even with their gung-ho approach they've still had to postpone one of the blocks, instead only completing it's shell.

A mate is an ex-letting agent and the reputation of the residents in the green quarter and how they treated it was already slipping a bit. I welcome the 'cheaper' apartments in the centre though and maybe this is the only way to do it succesfully. You just fear for what they'll be like should they ever get too cheap. All this nonsense about putting DSS people in empty city centre flats could be the ruining of a place like the green quarter.

Most city centre apartments built over the past 5 years are too small to house DSS tenants under current guidelines.

Most city centre apartments built over the past 5 years are too small to house DSS tenants under current guidelines.

:lol:

Thank heavens for sh!te building regs about minimum size requirements!
Does this mean that only the Penthouses will have smackheads in placed in them?

If you didn't laugh at this country it'd make you cry...
:ohno:

We should remember not everyone on DSS is a smackhead scumbag, lots of people just can't find a job but they still need and deserve somewhere decent to live. Apart from b4mmy, non of us are rich, so lets not get too snooty about the unemployed, it could be any one of us next week.

well said rolybling. As for Beach Boy i would cry, too many people are simply laffing things off these day or putting their heads in the sand... we are a democracy so get involved

All this nonsense about putting DSS people in empty city centre flats could be the ruining of a place like the green quarter.

This isn't going to happen. Developers with empty blocks are approaching the Council asking them to take them as social housing. The answer from MCC is a very clear NO - not in our City Centre!

We should remember not everyone on DSS is a smackhead scumbag, lots of people just can't find a job but they still need and deserve somewhere decent to live. Apart from b4mmy, non of us are rich, so lets not get too snooty about the unemployed, it could be any one of us next week.

The short term unemployed very rarely live in DSS accomodation. It's the professional sickness benefit workshy 'underclass' that our benefits system has created that the issue here. Most people who work for a living (or are trying to) are worse off than these people as they flog themselves to death for a pitance and then means testing removes any chance of a better existance. We all know the workshy Frank Gallagher types that I'm talking about (who get a free 15k car every 24 months etc).

Trust me I'm not having a pop at the poor - they're normally hard at work (and I've spent most of my life being one of them).

Anyhow the point is that if we put Frank Gallagher in high density accomodation then chaos ensues. It only takes one habitual drug user to rob everyone in a tower block and then the whole lot is ruined. That's why high density has to be expensive and exclusive - otherwise it doesn't work.

So far the recent developments are good in Manchester in that the large scale buildings are in the centre where land prices are high - unlike the 60s where the mistake (apart from build quality) was to put too much density in places where land prices were low. If we were to place DSS in high price buildings (and yes I realise only a proportion say 25% are trouble) - then everyone else in the building will leave, the place will go downhill and eventually get demolished.

I hear that some of the accomodation blocks in Ancoats are starting to have this very issue and working people are cancelling their tennancies (many of whom are not rich either). Expect to see Detroit 2 happen if the council doesn't get a grip on this.

PS I used to live on a council estate.

I wasn't having a go at you EBB, I was just saying not everyone on benefit is a scumbag, I'm not even advocating putting people in these flats but there was a few posts about scumbag DSS and I just wanted to add some balance.

I wasn't having a go at you EBB, I was just saying not everyone on benefit is a scumbag, I'm not even advocating putting people in these flats but there was a few posts about scumbag DSS and I just wanted to add some balance.

Fair dos no offence taken.

I do worry that if the wrong sorts of people get placed in high density accomodation then that's when the trouble starts. Even the councils worked this out when they started vetting people for high rise council blocks.
The sorts of people who rob everyone else in a block will be actively looking to get placed in one by either the council or a housing association.

I do think that the US/NY model of having vetting boards for high density Co-operative accomodation should have happened here. I think they got to that position (in places like NY) from years of hard experience of what happens when 1 bad apple enters a high density building (as was happening in the 1970s). As per usual we (as in this country) appear to be incapable of learning from other people's mistakes....

I'm Victor Meldrewing again - better stop
:soapbox:

The biggest problem is that it's almost impossible to get anything done about problem neighbours and even when you can get something done it takes so long and is such a palavour that they've already moved on.
The thing is troublesome neighbours know they can't be touched as well.

Has Vallea Court been completed yet? Smaller one on the Right
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/4681ValleaCourt_pic11.jpg
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=4681

^^ Chris Wilkinson took that pic only last year? That's the long lost Caw123 isn't it?!?! Come back!

He's still on here he's just changed his username

I see, cheers Roly!

Anyhoo, flickr pic from stuinmcr:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/3242306878_e282ec2daf_b.jpg

Densiteh.

Cheers Chogmook! Here's one of Britton House looking rather massive

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/3240619477_5f4313b7b1.jpg?v=1233416330

Heres a couple I took today after work

Its really making quite an impact from The bridge over the railway, a good one I think!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a260/Geeves8612/DSC00540.jpg

Here is the base area.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a260/Geeves8612/DSC00541.jpg

cheers for the updates :)

Nice one local lad- Is the road around the back of the Green Quarter still blocked off? I've been meaning to get the very shot myself, but usually en route elsewhere and don't want to have to turn around if the road is closed.

The Hotel exterior is now vitually complete and look pretty fetching too, a black marble-esque finish. I'll try to get around to snapping it.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/053.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/052.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/049.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/047.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/043.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/042.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/041.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/040.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/039.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/038.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/markydeedroppics/City%20Centre%202009/037.jpg

Nice photos markydeedrop, any photos of the IBIS hotel which looks as if still being clad on some of your picts.

My girlfriend asked me a question this weekend which I was unable to answer:

'What's Green about the Green Quarter?'

Hum. Well. I replied. Green space? No. Roof windmills like Mr Cameron? No. Green construction materials? I don't think so. Is it the colour green? No, not really.

I was stumped. Anyone help out?

The cranes are/were green cog!

Seriously, I read somewhere that a lot of the construction materials used are from 'green' sources and the HVAC systems are high efficiency.

But we all really suspect that it's just a cute *marketing ploy.

*Bullshit.

I thought it was because of the tree lined boulevard or something.

I prefer Redbank.

*Bullshit.

Yes, very reminiscent of many, many other things in the world with bollocks green pretentions. In the same category as:

- endless free newspapers doled out with "made from recycled paper" emblazoned on them (disregarding the energy expended in their production, distribution and the inevitable subsequent litter collection);

- the notion of buying a new, ever more energy efficient car every three years (disregarding the fact that typically around half of a car's lifetime emissions are generated at various stages of its production);

- the adding of a windmill to a building to show what conscientious developers/owners they are (despite the fact that said windmill may only be capable of boiling one kettle every three years and that the batteries required to store the generated electricity are usually of sealed lead acid type and eventually require disposal);

...etc., etc.

I *hate* bullshit, hypocritical sanctimonious green pontification (in case you hadn't noticed) and I wish people would realize that the only way they can really be considered green is by going back to living like cavemen.

Erm...rant over. What was this thread about again?

^^ Spot on Griff. I read an article from a French magazine, that measured the energy from the CIS's solar panels in "thousands of cups of tea brewed".
They were obviously taking the piss. I'm not sure if they glean enough electricity to run the lighting as they claim. They also say that 'hours of actual sunlight' has nothing to do with it.
I could be wrong though.

Yes, that was one example of excessive trumpet-blowing that actually resulted in slightly negative publicity.

The solar panels look good on the CIS Tower, first and foremost. They did a good job of refreshing the look of a worthy but ageing building.

Problem is, though, that the Co-op were rather too smug in telling everyone how they were setting a shining example to all by putting all this electricity back into the National Grid, and it didn't take the brightest of sparks to query exactly how much electricity it was actually going to generate.

If they'd have been a bit more modest with their publicity and put themselves on less high moral ground, it wouldn't have been so easy to shoot them down.

Sorry, I'm dragging this thread off topic again :)

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1725/dsc01583y.jpg

God, that really makes it look terribly out of place. Doesn't look quite so bad from most street-level vantage points. Glad I'm moving out after 18 months! Chimney Pot Park here I come, toot toot!

It's not brilliant architecturally but forms a nice cluster, the urban wasteland that surrounds it is a bit of a let-down though. Needs some attractions/shops/restaurants - someone should build some office blocks - that'd give the area some life.

Another block for the Greenquarter.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1892/greenquarterblock7.jpg

I presume this is right next to Park Inn, where the marketing suites are?

I was rentig in Jefferson straight after completion - amazing views from 10th floor towards centre and over strangeways. I doubt any of the apartments in the block have any views now!

Yes it is the plot where the marketing suite is. It's not been built yet, I think it is just a design proposal/concept.

Isn't one of the blocks at closest to the city centre all but a shell? I believe the cladding was all completed but they chose not to fit it out as the the property crash kicked in.

I'd expect any further work on the GQ will begin by finishing that off if they haven't already.

Thats right, it is the one next to vallea court. I think it is called Cypres Place.

Not another - over built up allready - cant see it happening now anyway

Just an enquiry. I quite often look from the bay platforms at Manchester Victoria towards the Green Quarter at night. Alot of the buildings seem to be in perpetual darkness!

Now I'm a little unsure of the names, but the block closest to the railway viaduct seems to be occupied, how ever the building just next that appears to be empty or at least all the flats that actually have a view facing towards the outside world.

Does any body know how much of the development is actually occupied?

I was going to ask the same Tony, you don't see that many on rightmove either which makes me think a lot of them were never sold on the open market at all.

Green Quarter's Wasted Opportunity

Jill Burdett thinks the city (and the country) needs to act now over empty flats

IT’S enough to make every Manchester agent weep.

A city centre apartment block standing empty and forlorn while tenants scrap over places to live and rents march upwards.

Cypress Place was the last block built in the vast Green Quarter but the developer, Crosby Lend Lease, shut up shop in Manchester before completing the fit-out.

Across town the second block of another Lend Lease scheme, Potato Wharf, is just a concrete skeleton shrouded in clever wrapping.

But Cypress is frustratingly close to completion. All it needs is for bathrooms and kitchens to be installed and Manchester would get 215 new homes.

if you stand on the terrace at the back of the Park Inn on Cheetham Hill Road as I did you can see boxes of kit already stored in there.

Staff at the hotel reported some activity on the site recently and they would be delighted to see both the apartments and the gardens completed as it would improve the view from the hotel’s swimming pool.

But Lend Lease, an Australian based company, is a little busy building the Olympic Village right now and when questioned about Green Quarter a London based spokesperson said there were no imminent plans.

Leaving a couple of hundred homes standing empty is a scandalous state of affairs in a city where there is a lack of accommodation, especially affordable accommodation.

A quick check shows only 49 properties available under £600 a month and the lower end is pretty squalid.

The difficulty Lend Lease face is that the odds of finding 200plus individual Buy-to-Let investors with the necessary finance or a single institution to buy the apartments are pretty slim.

But in hard times you have to be inventive and instead of leaving it empty surely it makes sense for a housing association to buy the block and let out the apartments.

It’s already been done before.

When Countryside faced a lack of buyers for The Vibe apartment block down the road at New Broughton they did a £7m deal to sell 100 units to Didsbury-based Great Places Housing Group which then offered them at affordable rents to working people.

It was the perfect solution, giving all incomes access to good new housing and allowing New Broughton to keep growing.

Manchester needs to do the same.

If the city wants to keep attracting young talent it has to help provide decent places for them to live.

Green Quarter is on the doorstep of NOMA which will bring thousands of new workers into the city and close to the retail core for shopworkers who would love to live here but cannot afford £750 a month in rent.

Time for Manchester to try and get its hands on some of the £400m announced by the Government last week for affordable homes and get this tower lived in.

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/News/Green-Quarters-Wasted-Opportunity

I've never really understood some of the goings on. I can understand maybe a shell not being finished off, I can understand the banks not funding something that hasn't but been built yet but a fully built apartment building that needs some bathrooms mad. Its currently making nothing but it could be making £100,000-130,000 a month. Wheres the logic?

Cypress Place To Be Fitted Out At Last

Jill Burdett on a Green Quarter spring ready for autumn

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/i/IGO/4MXY_M.jpg

TWO months after Confidential highlighted (click here) the empty apartment block at Green Quarter, developers Lend Lease have decided to finish Cypress Place.

Work on the final fit out of the 215 apartments in the otherwise complete building will start immediately and they hope to have them ready for the end of August – just in time for the latest wave of students.

While they have always been pretty good on the quality of their kitchens and bathrooms this time they are going all out, installing Poggenpohl units and all manner of fancy kit.

Confirming that work to complete the tower was about to begin, marketing director Niki Turner said: “We believe Manchester is ready for some quality new apartments with top of the range fittings. We are on-site now to begin the fit-out and they will be ready in autumn.”

As far as prices go she said they would be looking at comparables at Milliners Wharf in Ancoats where a one bed is around £110,000 and two beds £140,000 but also at Salford Quays where things are slightly pricier with one beds at £120,000 and two beds more like £180,000.

Although their decision to dump units when they shut up shop in Manchester three years ago may yet come back to haunt them. Valuers are likely to point out that two beds in Britton House next door were being bought for £120,000. Ditto units in Potato Wharf.

Asking prices are unlikely to be revealed until the first completed units are released for sale in May.

And they say they have no desire to pre-sell units to buy-to-let investors believing that there will be enough individual demand for the mix of one, two and three beds.

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Property/Cyprus-Place-To-Be-Fitted-Out-At-Last

Lift is up and working. Work has started.

Wonder if that retail space will get filled finally.