One of Manchester city centre’s most well-known buildings is going to scrub up — after being branded a ‘blight’ on the city.
The Rylands Building, on Market Street, used to house a huge Debenhams store, before the firm went bust. Since then, its former flagship Manchester store has been graffitied, plastered with posters, and vandalised.
It has led the Council’s city centre spokesperson, Pat Karney, to brand it ‘the scruffiest building in Manchester’. Now, however, the Manchester Evening News has learned that the site will be given some TLC soon.
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“We are proud of all our great shops in Manchester — they’re some of the best in the country — but this former Debenhams is letting Manchester down,” Coun Karney said. “We are talking about the building and not the shop itself.
“It’s the scruffiest building in Manchester. We have approached them [owners CD9 Property Manchester Ltd] a number of times to clean up the frontage but it gets worse daily.
“With all the Christmas visitors, it’s shameful. I am going to try one more time to get it cleaned up and stop it being a blight on Manchester. Once they leave it in a state every day it just gets worse.”
Over the years, graffiti and damage have been added to the windows of the building. Perhaps most infamously, last year someone stuck posters on the building advertising ‘penis enlargement therapy’ for people who ‘drive a 4x4 in the city’.
The Rylands Building is owned by CD9, a company which is registered in Guernsey. Recently, Russell WBHO has been appointed as the ‘construction partner’ for renovating the space, with the building to be let out by OBI and Barker Proudlove.
The refurbishment of the Grade-II building will be overseen by AM Alpha, a German firm. It will convert it into a mixed-use facility of retail, leisure, and offices.
There will be a four-storey extension added to the building, taking its total height to 10 floors — including a shopping arcade, restaurants, and offices. Work will begin next year and is set to finish in early 2025.
"We are delighted to be working with AM alpha to revitalise the historic Rylands building and position it in the market as a highly sustainable building,” Gareth Russell, founder and managing director of Russell WBHO, said. The MEN understands that plans are being worked on to cover up the unsightly facades of the structure.
That will include a hoarding around the building, whiting out the windows, and removing graffiti, it’s understood, once given approval from the relevant authorities.
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