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New CGI images of how the tallest skyscraper in Manchester could look have been unveiled as a public consultation into the plans was launched.

Property development and funding company Salboy Group is behind the proposals alongside construction partner DOMIS. The revised plans relate to the second phase of the Viadux scheme and would include two new towers being built.

As part of the planned phase, a 76-storey tower would be constructed, featuring around 780 apartments. A second building would stand at 23-storeys tall and create around 130 new affordable homes.

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In plans first drawn up in 2017, phase two of the Viadux scheme had been expected to comprise 240,000 sq ft of office space. The new plans, designed by the same architects, SimpsonHaugh, "respond to updated market dynamics, including exceptionally strong demand for high quality living space".

If approved, these plans will see the final Viadux scheme create over 900 new homes across a "very wide range of price points and tenure types".

Simon Ismail, co-founder and managing director of Salboy, said: "City centres throughout the º£½ÇÊÓƵ are facing the same falling demand for office space, but in Manchester that decline is being hugely outweighed by the ever-growing demand for high quality homes. When you are developing schemes like Viadux that will take years to come to fruition, being tenacious and adaptable is critical for success.

"We are excited to reveal new plans that will complete the Viadux masterplan and deliver a neighbourhood of high quality, design-led homes that meet Manchester’s substantial need for accommodation at a range of price points and tenure types. Viadux phase two will deliver on that demand, while at the same time bringing to the Manchester cityscape a crowning feature that offers panoramic views of a city rich in heritage and sympathetic regeneration."

Construction of phase one, which comprises a 40-storey tower of 364 apartments, began in 2020 with practical completion on course for the second quarter 2024. Proposals for the enlarged residential scheme are now out for consultation until Friday, December 22.