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Herculaneum Quay | Royden Way | 119 Apartments | 16 Storeys

420K views 2K replies 127 participants last post by  Scoughy1991 
#1 ·
Columbus Quay, still waiting for someone to bring it to back to life -




Someone somewhere is still checking in on the site, as the hoardings facing the river have now and again blown down and been replaced - most recently by block and mesh fencing. However nothing has taken place on-site since the crane was taken down a while after the site ground to a halt in late 2007.

The most recent information I can find is from the Business Desk in July 2012, that stated the site's administrators were seeking a quick sale to kick-start the site. Over a year later, and nothing more has been reported so presumably they haven't had much luck.

How it should have/maybe one day will look -

Image from The Business Desk article here - http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/nort...rators-seek-quick-sale-for-columbus-quay.html
 
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#181 ·
It looks like a dead duck to me. I'm not too sure how long one can allow steelwork to rust before it has to be replaced, but eventually what is there will have to be scrapped and the whole thing will have to be rebuilt anyway.

I don't suppose the residents of Grafton St. are too upset that it isn't going to happen soon if at all though. I guess they'd prefer their uninterrupted view of the river.
 
#182 ·
The strange thing is that Primesite aren't simply speculators, with no intention of building. They are delivering with the St. Cyprian's development on Edge Lane, and more recently with the Smithdown Halls development on Smithdown Road. Whilst acknowledging that this scheme is much larger than either of those two, they've certainly had enough time to get things in order for the build. If X1 need another project, I wouldn't mind them getting a hold of this, then maybe we'd actually see something happen.

In the meantime, I agree. After about 8 years of sitting there, unprotected from the elements, I can see the structure reaching a point where removal and replacement with new is the only option.
 
#185 ·
I used to occasionally see, from across the river, the crane driver hauling himself up the tower crane when there was a degree of enthusiasm for building the thing. From the frequent pauses, it was obviously quite an effort for him to get there, and I used to feel sorry for him. Then I stopped seeing him and wondered whether he'd had a heart attack, but the next thing was the crane disappeared too!

I thought then that it would never see the light of day, and it seems this ill-fated project remains doomed.
 
#187 ·
I've just cycled past the site and it is as dead as a doornail as it has been for many weeks.

All the same, I couldn't help but marvel at your amazing eye-sight, Excoriator. To be able to see somebody climbing a crane mast from over a mile across the river is quite an ability which ranks with your ability to hear planes that nobody else notices.

Such a pity the Krypton factor isn't around now.
 
#192 ·
Well, apart from the engineering considerations, I think it's doubtful whether it will go ahead after all this time. There is evidently no great enthusiasm for it from the company, and I suspect that that is the result of little enthusiasm from the people who have put a deposit down for their share of it.

I expect they are hoping for someone to buy the site from them. Who knows, we may see something better there one day?
 
#196 ·
This rusting steelwork idea is another red herring. Structural steel is normally delivered to site with a red oxide primer - not a finish coating but protection during the construction phase. In any event, structural steel sections are pretty meaty with minimum flange thicknesses of about 10mm.

I remember us having a similar discussion some years ago when the Walton Group development in Whitechapel, which later became the Met Quarter, was left as a bare steel frame for several years.

In the end, the new developer tore down this frame and replaced it with a completely new one but that was nothing to do with the rusting of the steelwork but a rethink of the type and scale of the development.

Maybe something similar will happen at Herulaneum Quay when the development does eventually restart.
 
#203 ·
I don't think they have gone out of business but I can't imagine they are in a good place.. Primesite are doing the church conversion on edge lane but that has gone tits up with the contractor in financial trouble. I don't think this will ever get built in its current form
 
#204 ·
Work begins on Herculaneum Quay, says developer

Work has begun on a stalled waterfront residential tower, according to the developer behind the scheme.

Primesite Developments says groundwork has been completed at Herculaneum Quay near Brunswick Dock and work can now begin to build a 14-storey tower with 101 apartments, a coffee shop, riverside seating and an outdoor swimming pool.

A previous residential development at the site was stopped in 2007 when the company behind it entered liquidation. After changing hands several times, it was sold to Ascot Group in 2014 in a ‘multi-million pound deal’. Primesite Developments was appointed to deliver the development and is also considering adding an extra ten storeys to the original plans.

Apartments in the building are being sold, with Primesite Developments indicating through its social media channels that up to 80% had been taken at the scheme. Initially the developer said work would begin last year, with a completion date of December 2015. However, this will likely be put back despite work set to get underway.

A spokesperson for the developer confirmed to Your Move work was underway at the development, after preparation work was completed at the site. The plans have been designed by KDP Architects, which says it wants the development to have a connection to the site’s maritime heritage. Stuart Duffy, partner at KDP Architects, says: “This contemporary development has curves in all the right places. Two arcs have been fused together to create a stunning living environment.”
Source - http://www.yourmovemagazine.com/work-begins-on-herculaneum-quay-says-developer/7264
 
#210 ·
Elliot Lawless said it was going to start in June, although he " didn't know how they were going to make it work financially, because he couldn't...".

I did enquire as to the people who had put down deposits but go no response.

I'll be going past today; I'll see if there is anything going on - but there certainly wasn't last week.
 
#211 ·
Given the number of false dawns this one has had, it might be worth waiting until we see a bit more activity before getting too excited, but for the first time in months, there is indeed activity on-site -
https://flic.kr/p/veP52H

https://flic.kr/p/vwCcJ8

https://flic.kr/p/veP4Vv

It should make a bit of an impact on the area -
https://flic.kr/p/vtXD15

As regards the height. I'll ask b4mmy to change the thread title back from 22 storeys, as the reported height increase (to 22, 26 or anything else), was never submitted for planning. The only extant planning permission for the site is for a 15 storey building (technically 15 floors around a 16 storey service core), so I think the thread title should be 15 storeys, even if Primesite are claiming 14, as that is what planning has been granted for.
 
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