Looking west along Ducie Street

“Redeveloping this part of the city had been a priority for years”

The choice of this location was literally a last minute decision - taken while on the way to Manchester Piccadilly Station having been to Renaissance Associates Limited’s Office Warming Party!

The top photo was taken in 1997 and shows the view looking west along Ducie Street. Gateway House is on the left and 111 Piccadilly is on the right.

The land in the middle of the photo was occupied by a series of surface car parks along with the Piccadilly Indian Restaurant.

In the background is the former Aytoun Building which formed part of the The Manchester Metropolitan University Aytoun Campus.

Redeveloping this part of the city had been a priority for years and in 2002 Argent LLP were selected ahead of a joint venture proposed by Amec Construction and Crosby Homes to work in partnership with Manchester City Council and GMPTE (now Transport for Greater Manchester) and lead the redevelopment.

The Framework for the area, now known, as Piccadilly Place was adopted in May 2003 and the scheme was completed in 2009, delivering over 350,000 sqft of commercial space, 167 apartments, hotel, public realm and footbridge linking to Piccadilly Station.

Gateway House is now Staycity Aparthotels and the Aytoun Building now forms part of the Kampus development, delivered by Capital&Centric and HBD.

RENAKER’s Deansgate Square development also visible in the background.