{"id":541710,"date":"2025-11-01T09:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T09:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/541710\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T09:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T09:03:25","slug":"the-200m-tall-feature-which-could-make-manchester-a-top-european-city-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/541710\/","title":{"rendered":"The 200m-tall feature which could make Manchester a top European city soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visitors numbers are rising and rising and Manchester’s leaders are full of confidence in its ‘magic’. But is that what Manchester needs to know it’s a truly top European city?Plot D will feature a lighthouse-inspired design to top it off with the ‘lantern'(Image: Renaker\/SimpsonHaugh)<\/p>\n

Manchester\u2019s skyscrapers are a sign it\u2019s not just a northern powerhouse, it\u2019s a truly global city drawing more and more people in.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the view of many city business, cultural, and political leaders \u2014 including <\/a>Andy Burnham<\/a> \u2014 but it\u2019s also borne out on-the-ground.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, footfall increased 3pc compared to a year earlier, following a 6pc rise between 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News <\/strong>WhatsApp<\/strong> group <\/strong>HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone in London\u2019 is swapping the M25 for the M60<\/a>, one new arrival Amy said recently, \u2018because everyone works remotely\u2026 there\u2019s so much to do, the people are friendly\u2019.<\/p>\n

The big hook is Manchester\u2019s \u2018buzz\u2019, according to Elisabetta Nicoli and Michael Nehrman \u2014 an Italian who moved here twice and a German who holidayed this summer \u2014 who spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service for the same special report.<\/a><\/p>\n

And now, Manchester\u2019s \u2018magic\u2019 has caught the attention of Magnicity, one of the major attraction firms you might not have heard of.<\/p>\n

It runs some of the world\u2019s best-known viewing platforms like Paris\u2019 Montparnasse Tower, often touted as having a better view than the Eiffel Tower, because visitors can see the landmark from the 1960s modernist block.<\/p>\n

Magnicity also oversees Berlin\u2019s TV Tower and 360 Chicago, which draw in millions annually. Now, the firm believes Manchester could be next to join the sky-high club.<\/p>\n

(Image: Magnicity)<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly there are some components or magic ingredients in what Manchester can propose that could fit that,\u201d explained Parisian Herv\u00e9 Cacheur, deputy CEO, via video call.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, [visitors] typically have a type of interest in the storytelling about the city of Manchester, which somehow people discover when they are high on top. If you can see the football stadiums, it’s something that people will want to see for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just about tourists seeing the city\u2019s twinkling lights and major landmarks, Herv\u00e9 added. A viewing platform would also give lifelong Mancs the ability to learn something new about Manchester.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes [viewing platforms] very interesting [is] you really propose a discovery of the city, because it’s a unique way of learning about the city, discovering a city,\u201d he continued from his office at the top of the Montparnasse Tower.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s the case for visitors and tourists, but it’s very much the case also for residents. Because you see your city in a way that probably you’ve never seen it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I find the time to spend five to ten minutes to look outside, I see something new every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The view from Berlin’s TV Tower<\/p>\n

While Magnicity has no concrete interest in Manchester at the moment, it does look like the city will get a viewing platform soon that\u2019s higher up than 20 Stories and Beetham Tower\u2019s Cloud 23, bars which sell themselves on wide-ranging cityscape views.<\/p>\n

Plot D, a 71-storey, 213m-tall skyscraper near Denasgate Square, has planning permission<\/a> to build soon. On floor 70, the final publicly-accessible level an 8,200 sq ft (762 sqm) restaurant is planned boasting \u2018360 degree views of Manchester\u2019 around \u2018the full perimeter of the building\u2019.<\/p>\n

The lantern design architects SimpsonHaugh have created has \u2018the potential to serve as a new city landmark\u2019, the practice said: \u201cThis treatment envelops the crown of the building, promoting the concept of the beacon when viewed externally but also delivering uninterrupted, distant views across Manchester from the residential amenity spaces and restaurant within.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Nobu Manchester could look, a 76 storey tower with 780 homes near Deansgate(Image: Salboy)<\/p>\n

Developers Renaker are in a race with Salboy<\/a> to build the city\u2019s tallest tower, with the latter\u2019s Nobu Manchester skyscraper set to eclipse Plot D at 246m, which will also feature \u2018upper-level restaurant, bar, events\/conference spaces\u2019, but its exact height isn\u2019t known.<\/p>\n

But the city knows Nobu Manchester will be a similar height to Magnicity\u2019s platforms in Berlin and Paris.<\/p>\n

And while there is no suggestion Magnicity will move into Manchester at this stage, it goes to show Manchester now is big enough, and attractive enough, to be compared to Europe\u2019s top destinations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors numbers are rising and rising and Manchester’s leaders are full of confidence in its ‘magic’. But is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,8086,29712,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-541710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-city-centre","13":"tag-manchester-development","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}