Leeds’ Evans Property Group plots 137-room Dakota Deluxe hotel in Manchester

Plans for a new 137-bedroom Dakota Deluxe hotel in Manchester have been revealed.

Leeds-based investment and development firm Evans Property Group will deliver the scheme on a 0.6-acre plot on Ducie Street after acquiring the land from Town Centre Securities (TCS).

Plans for the project, which forms part of property investor TCS’ £300m 14-acre Piccadilly Basin regeneration development, have been submitted to Manchester City Council.

The proposals include the creation of new public realm and landscaping, with improved links to the nearby Rochdale Canal.

If approved, the hotel will be the next development site to be greenlit at Piccadilly Basin, following recent plans to convert an old mill into apartments and the commencement of work on Burlington House, a 91-apartment scheme designed by architects SimpsonHaugh.

A CGI of the proposed Manchester site

Evans’ portfolio director, Alan Syers, said: “We are delighted that our close relationship with TCS has enabled us to secure such a key site to support our expansion plans for Dakota Hotels.

“Piccadilly Basin is an impressive and established development in a strategically important and bustling area of Manchester, ideally situated adjacent to one of the UK’s busiest train stations and proposed future terminal of the HS2.”

Speaking further, Alan said he believes Manchester’s status as “one of the strongest leisure and business destinations in the North” makes Ducie Street the “perfect site” for the Dakota scheme.

Evans is seeking to establish its Dakota brand hotels in all key UK cities over the coming five years. A Dakota venue currently under construction in the centre of Leeds is due to open in April 2017.

Alan continued: “The Leeds hotel is close to delivery and we are now actively seeking suitable sites or buildings in target cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford for additional Dakota hotels of circa 70,000 sq ft with around 100 bedrooms.”

Subject to planning consent, work on the Dakota Deluxe hotel in Manchester could begin next year with a view to launching in 2019.

TCS property director Richard Lewis commented: “Piccadilly Basin has been an important regeneration project for TCS for many years and continues to flourish as the key components complement one another.

“The land sale to Evans is reflective of our special and valued relationship with them and the development of a Dakota luxury hotel will be a superb addition to the mixed use offering at Piccadilly Basin.”