When complete, the 76-storey Nobu Manchester building will surpass the current tallest skyscraper outside London — currently Deansgate Square’s South Tower — and become the third tallest in the UK.

The 246-metre tall skyscraper is set to include a 160-room hotel, 452 privately-owned serviced residences and a Nobu restaurant. Work is set to begin on the new £350million tower sometime this year, with the building expected to be complete before 2030.

“I look forward to coming back when it is finished, if not before,” the star said in November 2025, as per the BBC. “I think it is going to take six years and I plan to be around.”

He continued: “I haven’t seen the city yet but I’d like to come back. Everyone is very nice, we’re having a very nice time. It’s great being here in Manchester because it has real character, we’re proud to be part of it.”

Nobu Manchester development

The Nobu Manchester project also includes a second building. The 23-storey building on Manchester’s Great Bridgewater Street will include 133 residences aimed at the affordable homes market.

The skycrapper marks the company’s first hotel and residence in the UK. The restaurant in Manchester will be the firm’s second UK location after Nobu London.

The BBC reports Manchester City Council leader, Bev Craig, said: “It’s not everyday you watch Robert De Niro take out an apartment in Deansgate is it?”

She hailed the project as a “symbol that international businesses are choosing Manchester”, adding: “It is a boost — we’ve said for a long time we wanted to be a world-class city and if you want to be a world-class city you’ve got to get global names.

“The fact we are seeing global names — not just actors — but global businesses that only go to cities where they will be successful is a big boost for Manchester.”

What is Nobu?

The Nobu brand began as a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant co-founded by the actor, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, and businessman Meir Teper in 1994.

When De Niro, a regular customer at Matsuhisa’s Los Angeles restaurant, first proposed opening a restaurant together in the late ’80s, he turned him down. But the chef eventually came round to the idea and a celebrity hotspot was born.

The hospitality empire has expanded to over 50 restaurants and 40 hotels around the world.