It’s ‘one of the deepest digs Manchester has ever seen’ – and Gary Neville is behind it

Footballer-turned-property developer Gary Neville’s £400m St Michael’s scheme in the heart of Manchester has reached a milestone.

And the former Manchester United captain climbed into a huge hole dug out of the ground to celebrate the latest phase of the project – said to be “one of the deepest digs the city of Manchester has seen”. It will be filled with the foundations of the development’s 41-storey tower and also house its parking and amenities.

The St Michael’s scheme has been called by the city council leader a “defining regeneration project for our city centre”, with hundreds of new homes, a five-star hotel, a public square, offices and a rooftop restaurant.

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Neville’s company Relentless Developments, along with high-rise specialist Salboy, is developing the £400m St Michael’s scheme off Deansgate.

The second phase of the project will include a 41-story residential tower with a five-star hotel. Builders from main contractor Domis excavated the site where the tower will stand – and dug up 50,000 tonnes of material, the equivalent of 4,167 double-decker buses, BusinessLive reports.

Work on the tower’s foundations can now begin. But before that, Neville and the teams from Relentless, Salboy and Domis climbed into the ground to mark the moment when the excavation reached its lowest level.

The Sky TV football pundit said: “Achieving this point in the construction of St Michael’s was really important as anticipation builds for the development’s 41-storey tower. We know this landmark building will become an iconic part of Manchester’s skyline and a wonderful addition. to our great city”.

Simon Ismail, co-founder and managing director of Salboy Group, added: “When we launched this scheme with Relentless last year, the start of construction on the 41-storey tower was always the milestone we were most looking forward to at Salboy.

“This marks the start of a truly exciting construction period and is a special moment for all partners involved in this impressive development.”

John Holden, senior project manager at Domis, said: “This is one of the deepest excavations the city of Manchester has seen, particularly in recent months, and will soon accommodate the foundations, car park and facilities that St Michael’s’. A tower with 41 floors will be built.

“This is a huge milestone and marks the start of construction of phase two of this wonderful scheme. Excellent work by the rest of the Domis team and all our partners.”