What is it with planners? A prime piece of real estate in the heart of Manchester given over to cheap student accomodation and a supermarket. It's going to be a late night disaster zone, Oxford Road is pretty much one big student campus as it is and could do with an inspiring piece of architecture. The argument that good architetcure is expensive is flawed as there are many practices producing ground breaking work that doesn't actually break the bank, it might however make help make Manchester compete on an international level as a tourist destination. If you let the brain dead developers rule you are pretty much saying good bye to long term tourism and international status.