Demolition work has now begun on the site of the much-anticipated St Michael’s development in Manchester city centre.
Construction company Bowmer + Kirkland (B+K) has confirmed that work has now begun on phase one of the huge £200 million St Michael’s development – which is the vision of the former footballer Gary Neville and his company Relentless Developments – starting with the demolition of the former Bootle Street police station on the current site.
When complete, the new city centre destination will be made up of a nine-storey office building, a 191-bedroom skyscraper hotel, apartments, and restaurants – with the star of the show being the rooftop bar which will have space for 900 guests, and views across Manchester.
The first phase of the development is set to provide around 1,800 jobs, and bring £120 million of investment into the city.
It is expected to complete and be ready for occupation in 2024.
St Michael’s is the vision of the former footballer Gary Neville and his company Relentless Developments / Credit: St Michael’sThe first phase of the development is set to provide around 1,800 jobs / Credit: St Michael’s
St Michael’s is the first real estate investment in Manchester from leading global investment firm KKR, which formed a joint venture with Relentless Developments last year to deliver this impressive project.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gary Neville and the Relentless Developments team were on-site as work began last week, alongside contractors B+K to “celebrate the major milestone”.
Speaking on the start of demolition work, Gary Neville: “The team has worked incredibly hard over a number of years to bring this project forward and this is a momentous day for all involved [so] we are really pleased to be working with B+K to deliver this transformational scheme that mirrors the ambitions of Manchester as a city.”
ADVERTISEMENT
A view of what the St Michael’s development in Manchester city centre will look like once complete / Credit: St Michael’s
“We are delighted to have been chosen by Relentless Developments to build the first phase of this high profile development in the heart of Manchester,” added Paul Sykes, Regional Director at Bowmer + Kirkland NW.
“Today is a major milestone and an important step on the road to increased jobs and investment in our city.”
Featured Image – St Michael’s
News
High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Fontaines D.C. announce massive return to Manchester on new European tour
Daisy Jackson
Fontaines D.C. have just announced their biggest headline tour to date, including a massive arena gig here in Manchester.
The wildly popular Irish rock band are set to play a whopping 20 arena shows across Europe and the UK this autumn.
The tour has been announced in celebration of their upcoming fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, which is set for release this October.
Fontaines D.C. will hit the road just five days after the album drops, kicking off their European tour in Lisbon on 21 October.
Then they’ll make their way over to the UK, with shows in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Fans in their home country of Ireland are told to stay tuned for live news very soon.
As we speak, Fontaines D.C. are warming up to play one of the country’s biggest festivals, with headline slots at Reading & Leeds Festival.
They’ve already released Marianne, the first single from their new album, and frontman Grian Chatten says of the album: “The album itself is a dopamine chamber. You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
The new record has been recorded between London, the English countryside, and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
He said: “There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity.”
Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday 3 September, with pre-sale live from 10am on Tuesday 1 September.
You can access tickets for Fontaines D.C. in Manchester HERE.
Fans who pre-order Dopamine Chamber from the official store by 6pm on Monday 31 August will gain access to the UK pre-sale.
Fontaines D.C. UK tour dates in full
Friday 20 November – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Saturday 21 November – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Sunday 22 November – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Tuesday 24 November – Leeds, UK – First Direct Bank Arena
Wednesday 25 November – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Emily Sergeant -
11th March 2022 
