Plans for Manchester’s tallest building yet, a 64-storey block of luxury apartments, are to go before councilors tomorrow.

The new skyscraper on Owen Street will soar above the neighbouring Beetham Tower - designed by the same architect, Ian Simpson .

It is one of four blocks comprising 1,500 new luxury one, two and three bed apartments being proposed for the brownfield site near the Mancunian Way.

They are being recommended for approval by planning officers despite uproar from neighbours and concerns among city centre councillors that it won’t contain any affordable housing.

The site’s skyscraper - at the end of Deansgate - would be by far the city’s tallest building , rising 17 storeys higher than the Beetham.

Residents in the Beetham, as well as the Hilton hotel in the same building, have objected to the plans , while a petition has been submitted to the council objecting on a range of grounds.

They include the sheer scale of the building, a lack of affordable housing, fears there is not enough demand for so many new flats, loss of light to neighbours, the potential for a wind tunnel, increased traffic and the loss of a well-used car park currently on the site.

Some neighbours also complain that at three weeks, they were not given enough time to respond to the proposals.

But planning officers are recommending the application gets the green light, as the council looks to create a new neighbourhood to the south of the city centre and boost its housing stock.

As with some previous city centre planning applications in recent times, they are waiving the need for affordable housing in the development, accepting the developer’s argument that it would make the apartments financially unviable.

They point out a large new area of public space, including a new river walk along the Medlock, is included in the application and argue it will regenerate an underused major part of the city centre.

Officers also say the height of the skyscraper would not have create any ‘substantial harm’ to historic and landmark buildings elsewhere in the area.

The proposals are due to go before town hall’s planning committee tomorrow afternoon.