The £1.3bn redevelopment of the St. John’s neighbourhood is underway, with developer Allied London gaining planning for the first phase.
St. John’s will be situated on the former home of the ITV studios in the city centre and result in the Coronation Street set being demolished to make way for the 2.8m sq ft regeneration scheme.
It has been billed as Manchester’s new neighbourhood for culture, enterprise and living delivering riverside parks, hotels, arts venues; shops, restaurants and bars, and 1,450 homes.
The plans for the former Granada studios also include an eight-storey office building.
Allied London will commence the project in Autumn 2016.
Michael Ingall, Allied London’s chief executive, said: “Allied London has long been championing Manchester and are fully supporting the Northern Powerhouse initiative, which now even has its own elected Minister in the Houses of Parliament.
“Manchester has always been at the heart of enterprise, arts and culture and St. John’s will provide a platform for the city to cluster creative enterprise and activities and flourish with workspace, theatre, music, performance, events, craft workshops and independent retail at the heart of our new neighbourhood.”