Virgin City Hotel Chain in talks for a new Hotel

Virgin group owned by Sir Richard Branson is all set to revive the stalled plans of erecting a 44 storey skyscraper in Manchester. The Virgin City Hotel chain is reportedly in talks about constructing a four-star hotel in the Albany Crown development. However, neither Albany Crown’s Chris Nisbet nor Virgin Group’s representatives were available for comment on the planned hotel at the Aytoun Street, Piccadilly.

Albany has been considering building a skyscraper at Ayton Street site in Manchester for the last three years now, ever since it acquired it for a hefty £6 million from the Empire properties. The new addition to the Virgin Hotel chain will be targeted at the business travellers and will be best placed to compete with the likes of Malmaison and City Inn. Both of those destinations operate in the same area and have hotels in the proximity of the Piccadilly Station.

The original proposal by the Liverpool-based developer was for 158,000 sq. ft. of office space in 10 storeys, with around 237 flats and 13,000 sq. ft. of retail and leisure facilities on the ground floor. However, if the plans of the skyscraper are to be moved ahead now, the planning permission that was granted in 2005 will have to be renewed.

If the talks between the Virgin City Hotel chain and the Albany Crown materialize, the resulting skyscraper would be the tallest building in the Manchester city, higher than the Hilton tower at Deansgate, which presently stands at 157m.

www.virgin.com