A new 24-storey tower block and vertical extensions to two others could mean 794 student flats are built at a site close to Salford Precinct. Planning documents lodged this week by Campus Living Villages show the proposed new block would tower over the existing John Lester and Eddie Colman Courts on Belvedere Road, close to the A6 in Pendleton. The new block, with 690 bedrooms, would be built in between the present towers at the site with both the existing structures being extended vertically by another two storeys. The development costs for the whole project is an estimated £90M. In a financial viability report lodged with Salford City Council this week, Campus Living Villages, said: “The proposals include a two storey vertical extension on each of the existing buildings and a new, central tower of 24 storeys. “The total number of units proposed is 794 across the three buildings. “The proposals include a larger ground floor area that links the existing buildings to the new tower. “We have assumed this will be the location for residential amenities such as lounges, cinema rooms, communal areas, study areas and a gym. “The site is in a mixed-use location, close to the University of Salford and Salford Precinct shopping centre.” The site is just 200 metres from Salford Precinct and even closer to Pendleton police station. If approved, the whole development will add 221,467 sq ft of living and leisure space on the 2.2 acre site. The existing blocks at the site, John Lester and Eddie Colman Courts were built in the 1960s and provide 700 students bedrooms with shared kitchens and bathrooms. They are currently 15 storeys in height with the new plans extending that to 17 floor, meaning an addition 104 bedrooms would be created. If approved the time-scales for the development will be six months of pre-construction, the vertical extensions will take a year and the new tower will take 18 months from the start of the project. Also included with the planning documents is a crime impact statement which reveals the number of offences committed within 500 metres of the site between August 2022 and July 2023. In all there were 1,309 crimes recorded by police of which 52 per cent involved the use, or threat, of violence. Robbery and theft accounted for 23 per cent of the crimes while criminal damage was 13 per cent. This volume of crime is around four times the average for neighbourhoods across the Salford Division but the report pointed out the area includes a large number of commercial premises, including several supermarkets, attracting large numbers of people daily, which significantly affects the nature and distribution of crimes. The report recommended several security measures for the new development including self-closing communal entry doors, installing a secondary set of secure doors at the main entrance and lifts operated by a fob or card.
