NEWS ARTICLE: Leisure to ignite Manchester’s Light House

(Property Week ,18 May 2007, www.propertyweek.com)

Plans have been unveiled for retail and leisure space in the heart of Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Stonehurst Estates, the developer building the £32m Light House scheme in Church Street, believes that a 14,000 sq ft restaurant and delicatessen-style operator could anchor the commercial part of the project, which will be spread across three floors of the building.

The Light House is designed by Sir Terence Conran’s architecture and design practice, Conran & Partners.

It features a 20-storey glass and steel residential tower above the retail space, and Manchester City Council’s planners have designated it as the tallest building in the Northern Quarter.

The retail and leisure plans comprise a 4,000 sq ft restaurant on the ground floor and a 2,500 sq ft one on the lower-ground floor, which could be linked to the restaurant above or let separately.

Conran has also designed a 4,000 sq ft shop on the ground floor and a second 3,500 sq ft shop on the first floor.

The Light House is on the site of the former Pall Mall House and Coliseum Shopping Centre, opposite legendary fashion emporium Afflecks Palace. It is a mixture of new build and the restoration of the 1920s buildings to maintain many original features.

Conran has designed a 67 metre, 20-storey glass and stainless steel tower to fill the gap between two refurbished and extended existing buildings with 169 flats. CB Richard Ellis is the letting agent on the scheme.

For more information please contact Emilie Lemons, Conran & Partners: cp@conranandpartners.com

May 2007