This is what Ancoats’ former Central Retail Park will look like if new plans for a huge government office are approved.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) bought half of the old retail park, which permanently closed to shoppers in 2019, from Manchester council earlier this year. They plan to redevelop a section of the 10-and-a-half acre plot.
Plans have now been unveiled for a nine-storey office for 7,000 Civil Service staff, which it says will be the government’s Manchester Digital Campus (MDC) ‘hub’.
“The Manchester Digital Campus… [will be] a flagship development for the GPA,” a planning statement said. “Delivering a building which will set the standard for new building hubs through this decade and beyond. It will do so with flexibility, function and collaboration at its core.”
The GPA says its project will bring in 6,000 construction jobs, and repair the “gap” in Great Ancoats Street, with new retail units which will provide amenities for local residents and workers.
Developers say it will ”close the gap’ left by demolishing the former Central Retail Park
Those ground floor amenities will be surrounded by new parkland proposed by the council, which the GPA says is only made possible through its investment in ‘the design, and future maintenance costs.’
It goes on: “The MDC buildings have been crafted in form and are connected with a consistency of massing and materials, each with a unique character that establishes its own identity and civic presence that will be enjoyed by all those who work, visit and pass through; this will offer a bespoke beautiful workplace in the centre of Manchester.”
The development seen from New Islington Marina
Building on the site would represent the end of a seven-year saga over the future of Great Ancoats Street’s Central Retail Park, when the council purchased it. After shops closed, a legal battle prevented the council converting it into a big pay-and-display car park.
The site was then left abandoned for years, allowing skateboarders to create their own DIY skate park. Consultation plans for new offices then created arguments at the town hall, leading to progress to slow.
But the process sped up rapidly this year after council leader Bev Craig announced half of the site had been sold, and only months later final plans for both new office and park were unveiled.
You can view or comment on the plans until January 5, 2025, online here.