Albany Crown Tower

Albany Crown Tower
General information
Status Never built
Type Hotel / Offices / Residential[1]
Coordinates 53°28′44.4″N 2°14′2.4″W / 53.479000°N 2.234000°W / 53.479000; -2.234000Coordinates: 53°28′44.4″N 2°14′2.4″W / 53.479000°N 2.234000°W / 53.479000; -2.234000
Estimated completion Unknown
Cost £83 million[2]
Height
Roof Over 160 m (520 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count 54[1]
Design and construction
Architect Ian Simpson[3]
Developer Albany Crown[1]

The Albany Crown Tower (or the Albany Tower) was a planned development on Aytoun and Auburn Streets in Manchester England.[4] It would have fronted onto the Rochdale Canal[1] not far from Piccadilly Station and been one of the tallest buildings in Manchester projected to cost £83 million.[2] It was designed by Ian Simpson,[3] for Albany Crown.[1]

Planning permission was given in 2005 but construction never commenced and the developer entered administration in May 2010.

History

The mixed-use tower's proposed height was 131 m (430 ft), it had 44 floors,[3] providing 35,298.00 square metres of space.[2] The ground floor comprised retail space, while floors 1 to 23 (140,000 square feet of space) would be a hotel and floors 24 to 41 residential, with a penthouse on the top two floors.[5] In total there will be 237 flats.[1] In May 2007, Albany proposed adding a further 10 storeys increasing its height to 160 m (525 ft).[1] Adjoining the tower was a smaller, 11-storey structure, at 49 m (160 ft), with approximately 14,500 square metres of space[2] to be occupied by retail and offices.[5]

A planning application was submitted in February 2005.[6] Albany then purchased the site in October 2005[7] for £6 million.[1] Planning permission was approved on the 11 November 2005.[6]

The site was occupied by five-storey offices designed by David Thomson in 1936 and built between 1948 and 1951 when the architect E H Montague Ebbs took over the project,[8] and occupied by a Labour Exchange,[1] part of the Department of Employment.[9] It was proposed to be demolished in early 2006 but demolition started in 2104. A hotel run by Holiday Inn is currently under construction on the site.[8]

The project stalled due to the failure of Albany Assets to sell apartments in its other developments.[2][10]

Albany Crown entered administration in May 2010 and the construction of the hotel finally put paid to the chance of the skyscraper ever being constructed.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "City towers aim higher and higher". 10 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Building - 1873 - Crown Building - Manchester". SkyScraperNews. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  3. 1 2 3 "Albany Tower, Manchester". Emporis. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  4. ↑ "Albany Assets Buy Crown Tower Site". SkyScraperNews. 7 December 2005.
  5. 1 2 "Albany Crown - Manchester (Official site)". Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  6. 1 2 "Manchester City Council: Planning Application Details (074821/FO/2005/C3)". Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  7. ↑ "Crown Building Faces Troubled Times". SkyScraperNews. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  8. 1 2 "Aytoun Street Employment Exchange". 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Albany wins a towering £6m project". Manchester Evening News. 13 December 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  10. ↑ "Albany in administration as property sale collapses". Liverpool Daily Post. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  11. ↑ "Albany collapse threatens tower bid". http://www.cnplus.co.uk. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010. External link in |publisher= (help)
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