Property

Robert De Niro’s Nobu to open landmark hotel and restaurant in Manchester

It's moving into the city's tallest super-tower.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 21st March 2025

World-famous Nobu is heading to Manchester for the first time, backing the city’s soon-to-be tallest skyscraper, Viadux 2.

Nobu Hospitality, co-founded by Hollywood great Robert De Niro, has unveiled plans for a landmark hotel and restaurant in the city centre, along with the first Nobu-branded residences.

The proposed partnership is with Salboy and will introduce Viadux 2 as the tallest building outside London.

Standing at 246 metres, the £360m property development would dwarf Manchester’s current tallest skyscraper at Deansgate Square.

Nobu plans to bring its signature blend of luxury hospitality and world-class dining to the heart of Manchester, with 160 hotel rooms, event spaces, and a signature Nobu restaurant and bar, all housed within the 76-storey tower.

There’ll also be 452 Nobu residences – the brand’s first foray into the UK’s luxury real estate market.

Each ‘residence’ (or flat, to us Mancs), will have Japanese details and premium amenities, including Nobu room service.

There’ll also be an exclusive swimming pool, spa, podium garden and gym, as well as a dedicated experience team.

Trevor Horwell, CEO of Nobu Hospitality said: “We are proud to include Manchester in our global collection, with its vibrant culture and growing global status.

“Strong partnerships are essential to our success, and with Salboy, Fred Done, and Simon Ismail, we have the best-in-class partners with a solid reputation and a world-renowned vision.

“Having grown up in the area, I am personally immensely proud of this project in a city that continues its evolution as a global destination for luxury hospitality.

“Manchester is home to world-class developments, a thriving culinary scene, and a growing demand for high-end lifestyle experiences.

“None of our locations are cookie cutter; we wholeheartedly embrace the spirit of each destination. We are delighted to be working with Salboy to blend the Nobu experience with the essence of Manchester.”

Fred Done, Co-founder of Salboy & Betfred, added: “For decades, I’ve travelled extensively while growing my businesses and exploring a vast array of dining experiences. Yet, Nobu has consistently set the benchmark for fine dining, offering impeccable cuisine and unparalleled hospitality wherever I go, whether in New York, Singapore, or soon in Manchester.

“I’m truly excited to welcome the Nobu team to Manchester. As a businessman, I understand why Robert De Niro and his partners chose to invest in Nobu. It is about more than just money; it is about bringing this level of class to Manchester and celebrating what it means for the city.”

Simon Ismail, co-founder of Salboy, said: “This £360 million deal for Nobu Manchester will take the city to new heights in terms of service, cuisine, and experience. Chef Nobu’s cuisine, renowned worldwide, has influenced dining across the globe.

“Even if you haven’t dined at a Nobu restaurant, you have likely experienced dishes inspired by his innovations. As the original innovator in fine dining, Chef Nobu popularised a blend of cuisines in exciting new ways, leaving a lasting influence on every modern restaurant you see today.

“We are excited to unveil plans for the UK’s first Nobu-branded residences and hotel, with this signature hospitality offering at its heart.”

Read more

Featured image: Salboy

Property

Much-maligned derelict Stockport site to be turned into town’s latest tower block

Danny Jones Danny Jones Stockport town centre's derelict Victoria House building being turned into new apartments tower block

A derelict site in the centre of Stockport is finally set to be bulldozed and turned into a brand new tower block worth a reported £70 million.

The regularly reviled Victoria House on Wellington Street, situated close to the large, grey Stopford House and opposite a local branch of Grosvenor Casinos, was built back in the 1960s – as its old metropolitan exterior makes evident – and has been tipped for redevelopment over the last decade.

Sitting on the corner of the Greek Street roundabout, it has remained mainly empty since 2019, with various developers looking to transform it into various residential reboots.

Now, nearly 10 years later, the building looks to be finally ready for the next chapter and a new lease of life, with property firm Progressive Living (PL) hoping to turn it into two main eight and 20-storey tower blocks, with tiered levels, different room capacities and rooftop spaces.

The land has been subject to plenty of urban exploration.

The former office building was once part of the nearby Jobcentre Plus branch, just down the road, not to mention one of several similar abandoned and underutilised spaces with untapped potential in the area.

Along with the demolition of the structure itself, the adjacent Fletcher Street car park that sits between Victoria House and the aforementioned casino will also make way for the apartments.

With the planning permission application submitted earlier this year and officially greenlit by Stockport Council on Thursday, 3 July,

Promising a mix of one, two and three-bed properties, the company are planning to build a total of 245 homes, though there has been some criticism regarding affordability – a significant increase on the initial idea to turn the 13,000 sq ft office unit into 21 flats some years ago.

The project will be brought to life using funds taken from the £5.7m grant set aside for the town by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Speaking on the project, PL director David Fairclough said: “We’re delighted to have secured planning for what will be a flagship scheme for Stockport.”

“This approval represents a major milestone for a project that’s been six years in the making, and we’re proud to play our part in shaping the next chapter of the town centre’s transformation.

“With demolition due to start later this year, we’re looking forward to delivering much-needed new homes in a sustainable, future-focused way.”

A CGI of what the new residential tower block in Stockport town centre will look like. (Credit: PL)

Construction is slated to start next spring, and they’re hoping to complete the project by summer 2028.

Developers hope to start demolition works this year, with construction expected to start in spring 2026, and completion targeted for Summer 2028.

Local councillor Micheala Meikle, who serves as the town’s cabinet member for regeneration, said: “This is another important step in transforming Stockport as part of the UK’s biggest town centre regeneration.

“These high-quality new homes will bring more people into the heart of the town, supporting local businesses and making the most of our new transport links.

“With the Mayoral Development Corporation delivering 8,000 new homes and Metrolink on the horizon, we’re building a town that works for the future – somewhere people choose to live, work and put down roots.

“This is exactly the kind of accessible, sustainable scheme we want to see in the town centre — creating homes for all ages as part of a thriving, low-carbon community.”

Trams are officially coming to Stockport as part of £2.5bn investment package

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Razor Twisted Exploring (via YouTube)/Progressive Living (press shots)

Property

A preview of a promising philanthropic project as Embassy Village makes progress

Danny Jones Danny Jones Embassy homeless village Manchester tour preview progress

Embassy Village, the upcoming homeless village that is set to open in Manchester, is making quick progress, and we recently got to preview the project with an early tour of the site.

Located just outside the city centre proper in Castlefield and near the border into Salford, the humanitarian housing project is looking to provide not just shelter but food and drink, employment, education and all manner of support to local rough sleepers.

Starting out as a controversial shipping container concept, which would have seen repurposed bits of old freight cargo turned into ‘pods’, the idea has grown since then and now

In fact, they’re not far from being done, with the team currently predicting a November finish date. Here’s how it’s looking so far.

embassy village manchester
embassy village progress
Credit: The Manc Group

Situated along a slice of the Bridgewater Canal, running along the length of the recognisable railway arches – 22 of them, to be precise – Embassy Village is set to become the first privately-funded homeless community not just in the UK but anywhere in Europe.

As far as the group behind this inspiring bit of philanthropy can tell in researching for this development, they haven’t found anything like this anywhere on the continent, certainly not on this scale.

Starting out as a repurposed luxury tour bus turned mobile rough sleeping shelter, they have since gone on to run three male and two women’s shelters, helping more than 175 individuals get back on their feet, from being rehomed to getting back into work and, ultimately, living independently.

Created by co-founder and director Sid Williams back in 2018, who has already helped countless vulnerable adults in and around Greater Manchester, there is a lot of faith behind this initiative, quite literally, in fact.

Sid and his wife Tess, who has also been helping spearhead Embassy‘s work here in the UK, are passionate Christians, but there’s no dogmatic or preachy vibes to be detected – at least as far as we could tell, anyway.

homeless village castlefield mcr
The ‘Village Hall’, where work, education and general life skills will be developed.
homeless village greater manchester
Outdoor spaces are being carved out, including areas to relax, sports courts and more.
Suitable candidates in the shelter system will be selected in order to identify those who could manage resettlement. (Credit: The Manc)

Besides a nice ‘tithing’ idea, which sees 10% of all unrestricted funds from the village donated to relevant charities in the region and further afield, the only real Christian value being promoted here is ‘love thy neighbour’, and that’s the kind of ethos we can get behind regardless of creed.

You can see some of the old fashioned values in aspects such as the public hall seen above, where people will not only be encouraged to gather but learn, create, socialise and once again start to reintegrate into a proper community.

There’ll even be parts of the Embassy’s ‘resettlement team’ living on-site to help get people back on their feet, with at least one dedicated staff member assigned to every six residents.

As Sid put it in a spin on the well-trodden old proverb, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, he believes that sometimes, “it takes a city to raise a village.”

Those staying here will not be given a leg up back into the working world, providing inroads to full-time contracts and a proper wage, but they will also be encouraged to take up wellbeing activities, taken on trips and away days beyond the city limits and Greater Manchester full stop.

An example of the on-site staff’s living quarters.
Each unit will have it own front door and all essential amenities.
They have an approximate 92% success rate when it comes to rehoming and reintegrating residents, with many ultimately coming back to work for the organisation. Think of it as a ‘pay it forward’ spirit,

With dozens of local businesses contributing to the construction of Embassy Village, they’ve now managed to raise more than £5.2 million in funding.

As well as backing from developers Capital & Centric (led by Salford-born Tim Heatley) and the likes of regeneration specialist Peel L&P, who made the land available, there are several other organisations chipping in to help house upwards of 40 different individuals.

That being said, they are still roughly £400,000 short of their desired target, which will help them build every aspect of Embassy Village they’re hoping to make come to fruition, so further partnerships are obviously welcome.

Following an official update from Manchester City Council, we can also now confirm that the space will link up to the soon-to-be expanded Castlefield Viaduct, where three of four currently out-of-use tram lines will be turned into one long sky garden, similar to New York’s famous High Line.

Following our tour of Embassy Village so far, there was one salient takeaway: there are a lot of people who really care about this cause working on this project.

Is it perfect? Maybe not? Would it be great if we could simply end Greater Manchester’s rough sleeping crisis by housing every rough sleeper in a traditional home, or one of the many new build properties in 0161? Of course it would, but we sadly all know it isn’t as simple as that.

Nevertheless, this current option is damn sight better than the alternative: allowing more and more people to end up on the streets, bouncing in and out of shelters, struggling with addiction, mental health and so on. They’re trying and they already have a proven track record spanning more than half a decade.

You can get a better idea of what it will look like when completed down below.

A look at Embassy Village as construction on Manchester’s homeless housing project begins
The preview tour did help us picture how these Embassy Village CGIs will be brought to life.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

More Property

Church Street Car Park

Business

‘Eyesore’ Northern Quarter car park to be redeveloped as ambitious new neighbourhood

Oldham town centre regeneration

News

‘Major milestone’ as planning permission secured to transform Oldham town centre

New build houses

Boroughs

Authorities prepare to ‘turn the tide’ on Greater Manchester’s housing crisis

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches