Manchester’s Piccadilly East set for creative workspaces as Capital&Centric submit ‘Neptune Mill’ plans

Manchester’s burgeoning Piccadilly East neighbourhood is set for creative new workspaces. Social impact developers Capital&Centric have submitted plans to restore Neptune Mill, a historic red-brick industrial building on Chapeltown Street, to Manchester City Council.

Newly-named after a nearby street that has long since disappeared, Neptune Mill’s five floors will be given Capital&Centric’s design-led treatment, matching the building’s innate original charm with bold contemporary elements. The team will be exposing the original features, stripping the building back to reveal its red brickwork and timber beams. There’ll also be space on the building for a mural, building on existing neighbouring pieces sprayed during a street art festival.

The application lodged with the Council details how the team will deliver over 22,000sq.ft of workspaces for creative businesses split over four floors, with the Manchester-born company also reserving a spot for its own new HQ to accommodate their expanding team.

As well four floors of workspaces, Neptune Mill will also feature a social hub, network space and commercial spaces on the ground floor – with the aim to open a coffee bar or deli.

Transformation of the 19th century building will be another piece of the jigsaw in the regeneration of Piccadilly East, the Manchester community named as one of the UK’s up-and-coming neighbourhoods by the Sunday Times. Neptune abuts Capital&Centric’s previous owner occupier communities Crusader (the restored converted Victorian mill) and Phoenix (its striking new build neighbour).

The plan is to get going on site in late 2023, with workspaces expected to be available for first occupants in late 2024.

Adam Higgins, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said:

“We kick-started the re-birth of Piccadilly East with Crusader and Phoenix and it’s incredible to see how far it’s come since then, with more homes, hotels and businesses springing up. Neptune Mill is the next piece of the jigsaw and something a bit different, introducing quality workspaces to the neighbourhood and a café-bar or deli for the increasing amount of people living here. Getting that mix in Piccadilly East is a really important next step.

“Neptune Mill will have all the hallmarks of a classic Capital&Centric project, design-led restoration mixing the old with the new. It’ll be a collaborative space for ambitious businesses that want an alternative to the new build office blocks in other parts of the city.”

Capital&Centric’s move into Piccadilly East help prompt a wave of wider development. Since they took on Crusader, they’ve since delivered the nearby ‘jenga’ Leonardo Hotel on Great Ancoats Street, with other residential plots now rising from the ground at pace.

As well as Crusader Mill, the recently consented Ferrous will create additional residential spaces on Chapeltown Street, alongside pop-up spaces, pocket parks, and The Cabin; a dedicated pop-up community event space.

The Manchester-based developers are currently featuring in Channel 4’s ‘The Big Interiors Battle’ on Friday nights, with budding design contestants battling it out to win an apartment at their Eyewitness Works building in Sheffield city centre.