Green light for BBC oxford road site plans

The proposed transformation of the former BBC Oxford Road site into Circle Square has taken a major step forward after Manchester’s councillors approved the second phase of development, which involves creating almost 500,000 sq ft of accommodation, 300,000 sq ft of offices, 100,000 sq ft of commercial space, and a 1,000-space multi-storey car park.Manchester City Council’s planning committee has approved a trio of applications by joint venture partners Select Property Group and Bruntwood that collectively form phase 1b of the three-part Circle Square strategy. Phase 1a, which incorporates 280,000 sq ft of serviced apartments and site-wide public realm, was approved in January 2016 while phase 1c features a further 115,000 sq ft of serviced apartments and a hotel.Phase 1b involves creating 447,921 sq ft of accommodation, 305,630 sq ft of offices, 105,000 sq ft of ground-floor commercial uses, a 1,028-space multi-storey car park, and total completion of the site-wide public realm including the central square to be known as The Green and accompanying pavilion. It also covers the central, north-western and south-eastern parts of the masterplan and spans approximately 8.6 acres.The first planning application involves building a part-36-storey and part-17-storey residential scheme with 411 studio, one-bed, two-bed and three-bed apartments manged by Affinity Living, part of Select Property Group’s build-to-rent brand. There would also be ground-floor commercial space and roof-level private dining facilities.Meanwhile, the second application envisages constructing a 14-storey and an 18-storey office with ground-level and mezzanine-level commercial floorspace. It also involves creating public open space at the heart of the scheme to be known as The Green and a pavilion beneath the public realm offering retail opportunities, food and drink, and event space.And the third application sets out plans for a ten-storey car park offering 1,028 spaces. There would also be ground-level and mezzanine-level commercial space.Phase 1a is due to be completed in September 2017, while construction of phase 1b will start in early 2017.The masterplanning and placemaking consultants for Circle Square are Planit and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. The architect for the scheme is also Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.In December 2015, Bruntwood and Select announced that the 2.2 million sq ft mixed-use regeneration scheme would be known as Circle Square. Speaking at the time, Bruntwood’s head of retail Toby Sproll told Insider that the name is “intentionally thought-provoking” and represents “an intentional contradiction to invite curiosity”.