A warning has been fired to the developers of one of Manchester's most iconic buildings who stand accused of 'letting the city down'.
Town hall bosses have been left disgruntled over the state of the Rylands building, on Market Street, which was home to the city centre's Debenhams store until its closure in May 2021.
Coun Pat Karney, city centre spokesperson at Manchester Council, slammed the building as the city's 'scruffiest' last month. The council says it was given promises that the old Debenhams would be tidied up as soon as possible.
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But weeks later, the once proud department store still has smashed windows and graffiti. Now, the building's owners are being warned that their redevelopment plans could be stalled by the town hall until they finally smarten up the appearance of the Grade II-listed building.
Coun Karney told the Manchester Evening News : "Work is due to start on the building in 2023 and the agent will be seeking meetings with the city council's highways and planning officials. These meetings will not take place until they clean up the building.
"I will be calling them in next week so they can tell us why they have let the city down." The councillor's comments followed a furious tweet, in which Coun Karney labelled the team responsible for the building 'jackasses'.
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council added: "During December we have had numerous assurances that the frontage of Debenhams would be cleaned up. We are very disappointed that this has not happened and we will be urgently contacting the building’s agent."
The Rylands building is owned by CD9 Properties (Manchester) Limited, which is registered in Guernsey. Last month, it was announced that German real estate investment firm AM alpha was working on the redevelopment project for the Rylands, which will be built out by Russell WBHO.
It is set to involve a four-storey extension - taking the building's total height to 10 floors - and should include a shopping arcade, restaurants and offices, according to the plans. Work is expected to begin next year and finish in early 2025.
The M.E.N. has approached AM alpha and Russell WBHO for comment. Deloitte LLP, which has represented the developer in written correspondence with the council during the planning process, declined to comment.
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