We begin on the street that's probably seen more change than any other in Manchester City centre,
Great Ancoats Street.
Once at the heart of Manchester's industrial revolution, with factories, warehouses,
railways and canals, it's now being transformed.
Our first construction project is the Leonardo Hotel Manchester Piccadilly, a new 275 room hotel
from Capital and Centric, a name you'll see very often on construction projects in the city centre.
A striking contemporary building with balconies, which have yet to be added.
Around and behind this new hotel are industrial units.
Let's not forget this corner of Manchester used to be somewhere you would tend to avoid after dark,
but not any more.
Oxygen seems an appropriate name for a project that promises to breathe
new life into this part of Manchester.
It's a luxury apartment building with a gym, pool and other facilities.
It towers over the two-storey residential buildings from the 1980s.
This is the view from Old Mill Street.
Just off Great Ancoats Street is Chapeltown Street and a development named Phoenix.
Chapeltown has a hidden history. Look in the description to see where you can find out more.
This warehouse stood derelict for many years.
Then the Metrolink line from Ashton arrived and now it's going to be redeveloped.
Ancoats is famous as the first industrial suburb in the world.
These warehouses were restored and repurposed as apartment buildings
Let's continue into the New Islington district,
where an assortment of apartment buildings has appeared next to a recreated canal link.
This is our third construction project,
Lampwick Quay on the right, with one, two and three-bedroomed homes to rent.
Across the water from it is the controversial Chips Building by Will Alsop, completed in 2009.
The Stubbs factory building with its iconic sawtooth roof and pyramid-topped tower is
one of the few industrial buildings to remain in this part of Ancoats.
The Grade II listed Ancoats dispensary façade still stands derelict but there's an update.
First the good news - The building will be turned into affordable apartments. The
bad news - the affordable apartments may be so expensive that local people
can't afford them. We'll see how things turn out..
This is Old Mill Street with its distinctive new street lamps which
have been there actually for quite a few years.
Now we enter Cotton Field Park built around New Islington Marina, a new lake in the city
The development was interrupted by the property crash of 2008
but in 2021 the project is heading towards its mature stage.
People reside in the canal boats on the water and in apartments by the water.
Another famous name in property development can be seen here,
Urban Splash. They've played a key role here.
I've photographed Ancoats down the years. This is 2021 and this is 1998.
We are looking south into New Islington along the new canal link.
Could you imagine yourself living here? In an apartment or a maybe canal boat?
I photographed the park in 2015 for my Manchester Evening News feature.
Since then many new buildings have appeared.
Today swans are in residence, unimaginable not so long ago.
We leave Cotton Field Park, cycle past the canal boats towards Old Mill Street
and back onto Great Ancoats Street.
You'll notice the profile of local residents is mostly
young professionals, enjoying a city centre career and lifestyle that didn't exist a few years ago.
And now we go into the heart of Ancoats. This is Cutting Room square.
Sadly some buildings in Ancoats were not saved incuding the remains of the Smiths Arms.
If saved, it would have fitted well in to this lively square with its bars and restaurants.
It was removed to make way for this building. In Liverpool, the legendary Ma Egerton's pub
next to Lime St Station wasn't demolished. They built the student residence around it.
Now let's move down to another area I've featured in the past, Angel Meadow. Two
tall apartment towers have appeared. This is Meadowside. 'pretty city living' says the sign.
Next we have Four Angel Square, 'not just a another tick box
exercise in sustainability' says the sign. It continues:
'Four Angel Square is a net zero 200,000 square foot office building with leisure
and retail space in the heart of NOMA's thriving business community.'
NOMA is the new district created by the Cooperative Group in Manchester.
This is how the building will look.
There was controversy when the historic Ducie
Bridge pub was demolished to make way for this new project
Is it possible or advisable to keep the old when it gets in the way of the new?
We are now next to Victoria station, where another development
is under construction on a thin area of land that was used as a car park
'A new 104,000 square foot workplace in a thriving location' says the sign.
It's the Victoria project and this is how construction looks in July 2021.
On the other side of Victoria station we freewheel down towards Great Ducie Street
and there ahead of us are more new developments.
This is a new campus for The Manchester College and UCEN Manchester.
And what iconic Manchester brand used to be on this site?
It was Boddingtons Brewery.
We continue down Trinity Way to find more high-rise construction.
This tall tower is being built right next to the River Irwell.
This is Careys The Residences, together with Elliott residences.
It's a £70m project by Liverpool-based Elliot Group,
but construction has been paused following allegations of fraud. Google it to find out more.
Just round the corner is the Grade II listed Collier Street Baths, also standing derelict,
scaffolding-covered and awaiting renovation.
These three concrete structures are part of Uptown Riverside Manchester, along with
several streets of contemporary style terraced houses which are already completed and lived in.
This is The Filaments on Chapel Street, Salford,
with 376 apartments of different sizes, and retail units at ground level.
Our next project is New Bailey,
combining a multi-storey car park with 1000 new homes, many overlooking the River Irwell
And this must be one of Manchester's most striking construction projects,
it's The Factory, the new home for the Manchester International Festival.
It's built on part of the former Granada Studios site.
And this is part of the site where Trinity Islands will appear,
as featured in my previous Building Boom in Manchester video.
Next to the railway viaduct and a still murky River Medlock is the Potato Wharf development,
which was interrupted by the 2008 crash.
Now we are in Castlefield, and this is the Castle Wharf
development, with one, two and three bedroomed apartments and penthouses.
It was criticised as its height is well above the
surrounding buildings within the Castlefield conservation area.
Cycling along Chester Road, we see the Victoria Residence and next to it,
the Elizabeth Tower at Crown Street Manchester, offering 484 one, two and three-bedroom apartments
and townhouses and a swimming pool on the 44th floor. It's already sold out.
It has 52 storeys and is 152 metres or 499 feet tall.
And we finish where my previous video began with Deansgate Gardens,
now mostly completed, still Manchester's most prominent recent development.
And many thanks to architects Simpson Haugh for liking my black and white photograph
of Deansgate Gardens on Instagram. I'm at instagram.com/AidanEyewitness
So to conclude, few questions: Is Manchester City Centre
going to be a place for everyone to live or just a high-earning minority.
Are enough affordable apartments being built? Is most new construction of architectural merit
or are they just faceless, clinical new apartment buildings?
Should we do more to remember Manchester as it was?
Should older buildings such as pubs be saved, no matter what?
Just a few thoughts, post yours in the comments.
And if you want to know what I really think, go to www.aidan.co.uk/bbm21
So that's it, I hope you found this video of interest.
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And remember: never stop looking, exploring and capturing
and why not come on one of my photo walks? Details in the description.
Vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen, many thanks for watching, auf Wiedersehen, see you again soon.