Preston City Centre Plans Confirmed For 469 New Apartments

Plans have been confirmed by Preston City Council for nearly 500 new apartments to be built in Preston City Centre on Manchester Road, Queen Street and Grimshaw Street.

The project is the “first significant scheme” in the Stoneygate Regeneration Framework Masterplan to come forward, according to planner Cassidy + Ashton.

An outline planning application submitted to Preston City Council calls for the building of two apartment buildings ranging from three to 16 storeys in height.

There would be retail on the ground floor of the buildings, with public realm in between the two connecting Grimshaw Street and Manchester Road.

The Preston city centre apartments would include a mix of one-, two-, and three-bed flats. Of the 469 proposed, 129 would be for those over the age of 55. These flats would sit within their own block, which would also have a cinema room, lounges, library and roof terrace for residents.

The remaining 340 apartments would be market housing.

Three retail spaces are proposed in the application, with the largest having a gross floorspace of 5,100 sq ft. A smaller, 1,700 sq ft, unit would front Manchester Road. The smallest of those proposed is 1,300sq ft and would sit on the corner of Queen Street and Grimshaw Street.

Stoneygate Living’s plans also include two car parks offering a total of 105 spaces and an additional 13 spaces along Manchester Road.

If approved, the project will see the council’s vision for an “urban village” in the nearly 94-acre Stoneygate area to move forward. The Stoneygate masterplan calls for the building of 1,600 homes and was approved by Preston City Council in 2020.

In addition to David Cox Architects and Cassidy + Ashton, the project team includes PSA Design on drainage strategy, Zero3 on energy consultancy, C. J. O’Flaherty on heritage, TPM Landscape on landscape architecture, and Cora IHT on transport.

The application’s reference number with Preston City Council is 06/2022/1084.