Frequently Asked Questions

Fusion Students have acquired and plan to regenerate the site, off Deansgate South/A56 Bridgewater Viaduct. The location is already popular with students, with Manchester Metropolitan University’s main campus, Edge Hill and Arden Universities less than a mile away each, 14 student residential buildings nearby and evidence that there are students privately renting apartments in the area, it is clear that that this location is already popular with students.

The site is currently in a state of disrepair after years of vacancy, becoming overgrown and offering little to the surrounding streets. Despite being within the Great Jackson Street Development Area, it does not serve the City Centre or the roads that surround it. Fusion Students will bring the site back into use, providing much-needed residential accommodation for students and strengthen the area as an attractive location to live and work in.

Fusion Students is a well-established student accommodation developer and operator delivering purpose-built student rooms with unparalleled design and specification. Fusion Students has bought, developed and operated 8 sites, totalling 3,365 student beds, since the company’s inception with a further 2 sites (1,638 beds) due for completion in 2021 at an affordable price.

Fusion Students prides itself on the high quality of spaces provided within their buildings. A large part of this is creating spaces that enhance safety, social interaction, wellbeing and fun for all of their occupants.

As the third-largest student city in the UK, Manchester has a significantly large and growing student population. Current demand is high; over 20,000 students in Manchester are unable to access purpose-built student accommodation and instead rely on Houses of Multiple Occupancy and City Centre apartments, which are often unsuitable to meet the needs of current-day students. By providing high-quality, dedicated student accommodation, Fusion Students’ plans will give future students a more modern, safe and secure choice for their accommodation.

Fusion Students operate and manage their student accommodation. There is a strong focus on security and building management, with all buildings employing 24-hour concierge and building management teams. Contact details for the teams are shared with neighbours to maintain productive and open relationships with all local residents.

Should we receive planning permission, we envisage this to be in early 2021, with construction works to then take around two years. Our initial timelines have the building being ready to serve students studying in the 2024/25 academic year.

Steps have been taken to ensure that existing neighbours are not overlooked by this development. The lower ground and ground floors have no glazing and from the mezzanine level upwards there is restricted glazing on the frontage of the building. The proposed building has also been pulled back, ensuring that there is a minimum of 12m separation distance from neighbouring buildings.

Fusion Students has commissioned a transport assessment as part of the planning application to measure the traffic impact at this location both with and without the proposed development. It is considered that very little to no traffic will be generated by this development as it is a car-free scheme with no on-site parking.

The site is in a prominent City Centre location. It is well placed within Manchester’s existing transport networks including: regular bus services throughout the City and Manchester more widely; nearby train stations including local routes from Manchester Deansgate, Manchester Oxford Road and national routes from Manchester Piccadilly; and the Metrolink tram network, with Deansgate/Castlefield the nearest stop a few minutes walk away.

We are targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating for the building, which means ensuring the development exceeds current building regulation standards. We aim to incorporate low energy technologies into the proposed development, such as photovoltaic panels, and aim to enhance the sites biodiversity, by introducing planting on the roof terraces.

Fusion Students will agree a full and detailed Construction Management Plan with Manchester City Council prior to beginning construction works on the site. All construction traffic will be directed to leave the site using the agreed route and instructed not to use alternative routes to ensure that construction of the new building will have minimal impact on existing residents.

We are currently in the middle of a consultation process to engage with the local community and stakeholders regarding our proposals for Deansgate South. Following this consultation process, a planning application will be submitted to Manchester City Council, which is likely to be before the end of the year (2020).