An ambitious plan for a multi-billion pound regeneration around a new-look Piccadilly station can be revealed by the M.E.N.

Town hall chiefs want to unlock the rewards of the planned High Speed 2 rail link long before it arrives – in a regeneration bonanza dubbed the ‘opportunity of the century’.

Planners want to create a new ‘gateway quarter’ modelled on Amsterdam and New York.

It would be centred around the new HS2 terminal – and a grand new entrance plaza replacing the existing front of Piccadilly station.

The plan would also include:

* A leafy boulevard linking London Road with east Manchester, ending in a park on Fairfield Street – creating a green corridor between the Medlock Valley and the city centre.

* A ‘Spinningfields-style’ business centre between Great Ancoats Street and the Rochdale and Ashton canals.

* An ‘East Village’ of waterside homes, shops and offices in Piccadilly Basin.

* 10,000 new homes between Piccadilly and the Holt Town area of Bradford.

* New homes, green spaces and offices on the former Mayfield Depot site.

(Image: Bennetts Associates)

High speed rail is not due to hit the north until 2032, but council bosses want Manchester to reap its rewards sooner.

They hope to bring in billions of pounds worth of investment as part of plans to expand the city centre out to the north and east.

A clutch of regeneration plans due to be considered by the council’s executive next week refer to the overall vision as a ‘once in a century’ opportunity.

Susan Williams, director of the North West Rail Campaign, said the city’s ideas are ‘absolutely right’.

She added: “It’s just such a huge infrastructure investment and the first I have seen like it in my lifetime.

“I don’t think there will ever be anything as big as this in the next century.

“Manchester does take the bull by the horn and they have been prepared very well for the opportunities that arises out of it.”

Town hall chiefs say the new HS2 terminal at Piccadilly would be ‘world class’ – along the lines of the St Pancras Eurostar terminal in London's King’s Cross.

It would also feature a new tram interchange and coach station.

(Image: Bennetts Associates)

While much of the land involved in the masterplan is publicly owned, it is understood the council is in negotiations with a number of private landowners whose property would need demolishing – including property giants Bruntwood.

The Mayfield Depot is currently owned by the government, as part of a package of former British Rail property.

Manchester council bosses have been working with ministers, HS2 and private developers on the vision over the past year.

The first phase of work would be on the ‘boulevard’ and Mayfield site, and could start within three years.

Funding is expected to be a combination of government transport cash, council money – for public spaces and highways – and private investment.

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said no figure had yet been put on the project’s value – but that it would be 'ten figures'.

He added: “This is all about getting ahead of the game. Instead of waiting until the building process, we are starting now – if we start now, we can’t lose.”

How Piccadilly planners have taken inspiration from world's top cities

PLANNERS have looked to international inspiration for the Piccadilly area – with a draft ‘strategic regeneration framework’ document full of references to the likes of Amsterdam and New York.

They say the ‘East Village’ of waterside apartments, townhouses, shops and offices would be modelled on its New York namesake, Nine Streets in Amsterdam and Soho Square in London. The report also points to the success of Manchester’s nearby Canal Street, and The Lanes in Brighton.

The ‘Piccadilly Boulevard’ is described as a way to ‘overcome the present division between the city centre and the areas to the east’. The draft document includes images of the Chapultepec park in Mexico City, a typical Ukranian boulevard in Kiev, and even Paris’s Champs-Elysees, as inspiration.

The report says the new park to the east of the station ‘would make an ideal location for a signature cultural building or a great venue for large public gatherings.

The document contains a simple sketch of a park, but includes images from San Francisco, Lisbon and Milan as inspiration ideas.

The sections of the document on the HS2 terminal itself include images of London’s St Pancras International station and Beijing South station in China.