Bosses behind the plans have spoken about how it could benefit the city if approved.
Henley Investment Management hopes to use the land to bring thousands more homes to Salford (Image: Henley Investment Management)
The £1bn plan to build Greater Manchester’s tallest skyscraper could bring the ‘largest affordable housing delivery in Salford in 50 years’, the developer behind the scheme has said.
Henley Investment Management (HIM) is working on proposals to build 3,300 homes by transforming a section of Salford’s Regent Retail Park into a new community across eight acres of land, with five acres designated as open space.
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The site is based by Regent Road, on the edge of Manchester city centre, and was bought by HIM for £16m in 2020.
The retail park is currently home to a car park along with a mix of shops, including a Sports Direct, Home Bargains, and Cancer Research UK among others.
Designs for the land could see ten new towers being built, alongside space for doctors and dentists, a park, 600 parking spaces, and a commitment to provide 660 affordable homes.
The plans could transform part of Regent Retail Park (Image: Henley Investment Management)
The biggest building would be up to 273 metres tall, or around 78 stories, which would make it the tallest tower in the region if built.
The planning application was criticised by councillors in July who voted to defer it, asking for more information about the impact on local roads and services, as well as concerns about the potential loss of shops and the number of affordable homes.
But bosses at HIM have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) they are hoping to bring the scheme back to Salford council’s planning committee ‘as soon as possible’ for another vote.
Hattie Charlier-Poole, senior development manager at HIM, said Salford was a natural choice for a development of this scale.
She told the LDRS: “It’s a really exciting location, we know that there’s a need for housing, the expansion of Manchester, the population increase is enormous, there’s a real need, and we are interested in land nationally and we really thought there was something positive and exciting that we could do in Salford.”
Ms Charlier-Poole has worked on the scheme alongside Jay Squier, managing director at HIM.
Hattie Charlier-Poole, senior development manager at Henley Investment Management (Image: provided)
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They said it would pump £3.7m a year into the city through council tax if approved and built, and bring many other benefits.
But the developer’s plans have been met with criticism from some in Salford, including the city’s MP Rebecca Long-Bailey and local councillors in Ordsall.
Opponents to the scheme have raised concerns about the potential loss of businesses which many living around the retail park depend on for work and shopping, as well as worries about an increase in traffic on the busy Regent Road.
During the Salford council planning meeting in July when the plans were deferred, Rebecca Long-Bailey described the design as a ‘complete new town in the sky’ which would ‘not be out of place in downtown Manhattan.’
But the bosses at HIM said the concerns have been listened to and addressed, and are hoping for the planning application to be approved in the near future.
Officers at Salford council had given it a recommendation of approval back in July.
Mr Squier said: “We offered the existing retailers to come back in, we redesigned the scheme so there will always be retail on the site, so the first phase will be operating retail before you move to the second phase.
“We integrated community space on the site, you’ve got playgrounds and sports pitches, we have made a commitment to 20 per cent affordable housing, which will be 660 homes.
“We’ve done a bit of digging but we think it’s the biggest in 40 or 50 years in Salford or Manchester, it’s an enormous undertaking which we’re up for, and unprecedented for a long time.”
Jay Squier, managing director at Henley Investment Management (Image: Henley Investment Management)
Hattie Charlier-Poole added: “It has never been our intention that this scheme is towers with a coffee shop at the bottom, it has always been the case that we were going to re-provide the existing services, and enhance and improve them and add more.
“The site will continue to function as a local centre, but in a much more sustainable way so that it’s got longevity to serve the community not only now but also into the future as well as house a lot more people.”
The pair explained that they believe HIM’s designs for the land, which would include around 600 parking spaces, would not have a major impact on traffic levels in the area.
This has been supported by ‘a huge amount of analysis and models’, including a transport assessment included with the planning application.
This assessment found that the proposals are expected to ‘result in a net reduction in vehicular traffic on the surrounding road network, owing to the fact that the existing retail park generates a high number of vehicle movements during the weekday PM and Saturday peak travel periods given it is a car-based destination.’
Housing is in huge demand in Salford, where there are 5,000 people and their families on the city’s housing register.
But local opposition to HIM’s plans remains strong, with more than 460 objections submitted to Salford council about the scheme.
Mr Squier said: “The people who want to buy homes and are on a waiting list don’t necessarily get as much airtime as the people objecting, but there’s positives here which will give you a fantastic scheme that will help build a strong community, that will be a massive improvement on the concrete bland eyesore that is regent retail park, the current unit is a poor use of space and this will improve the area, there’s lots of positives there.
“There’s thousands of people on waiting lists, there’s millions that want to buy homes, and the only way people are going to get a chance to live in a social home or own homes is that we build them.”
He added that he believes Regent Retail Park could struggle to survive in the long-term future if the site is not redeveloped.
Mr Squier said: “It’s too big, it’s inefficient to heat, you go in there they’re vast [units], Poundland have just gone, they’ve vacated, so effectively the reason it’s operating as it is, is because there’s a plan for the future.
“If that future can’t be realised there’s not a future, the status quo is not possible, it’s not viable as a retail destination.
“There’s 3,300 very needed homes and 660 affordable homes that come with it, plus a park and community benefit, you’ve got over 5,000 on the waiting list in Salford, and you’ve got the option of 660 homes there, we’ve got to move forward and deliver housing.
“I believe the mix of what we’ve got and the park, affordable housing, the community uses, the retail, would show Salford’s open for business and wants to build housing, but provides benefits to the city at the same time.”