Resi added to Eccles’ Sentinel House
Howard & Seddon Partnership, acting for Omega Travel, has lodged plans with Salford City Council for residential development along with a retrospective hotel application at Sentinel House in Eccles.
The first element covers Block A of the L-shaped building and is a prior information notice for a Permitted Development Rights conversion from offices to 90 apartments. Of these, 13 would be studios, 51 one-bedroom, 25 two-bedroom, with a single three-bedroom apartment.
The building sits on an island site bound by Peel Street and Albert Street..
In the second application, Omega has applied for a retrospective planning consent for a change of use, regarding the already operational Milton Hotel at Block B, applying for a 168-bedroom hotel, with 3,900 sq ft of office space retained.
Omega, headed by Milton Keynes-based entrepreneur Mingliang Chen, bought the 1970s-built Sentinel House in 2013 for £2.8m, and soon after submitted an application for a 132-bedroom hotel. Work started in 2015.
Block B was already vacant, having last been occupied by the University of Salford until the mid-2000s, while around half the office space in Block A was occupied at that stage.
A further 24 parking spaces are included on the refreshed hotel application, taking the total to 104. Despite its unconventional setting, the hotel scores well on review sites.
In its design & access statement, Sale-based architect Howard & Seddon explains that Chen’s primary business is bringing Chinese tourists to the UK, and taking them to tourist attractions in London and Scotland.
The Eccles base is seen as a stopping point at the start or end of trips for those using Manchester Airport, and a halfway stop between the capital and Scotland.
