Buyer sought for Manchester’s iconic Toast Rack 

Estrela Properties is looking to offload the listed Modernist building, which sits at the centre of a 3.7-acre site awaiting redevelopment. 

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed by Estrela to find a buyer for the Toast Rack, formally known as the Hollings Building, and the surrounding land and properties. 

The site has detailed planning consent for a mixed-use scheme. 

The development proposals, designed by Ollier Smurthwaite and SixTwo Architects and approved in 2016, comprise 211 residential units, which will be a mix of one- to four-bed apartments. 

A 20,910 sq ft of gym and leisure space has already been delivered and is let to the Gym Group, while 7,582 sq ft of commercial space and 154 car parking spaces split across the site are also proposed. 

The Toast Rack building itself, sold to Estrela by Manchester Metropolitan University for £5m in 2014, would be converted into apartments. 

The site is made up of various buildings. Credit: via Cushman & Wakefield

Other existing buildings on the site include Horseshoe, which is also earmarked for residential conversion, and Stitching Hall. 

The Stitching Hall, located to the rear of the site, has plans to be converted into 47 residential dwellings. 

Permission to build an 11-storey residential building containing 60 rental apartments has been granted on the Gateway site, which fronts Cromwell Range and Wilmslow Road.  

Bruce Poizer, head of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield in Manchester, described Toast Rack as “one of the most striking and recognisable buildings” in the city. 

“This is an incredibly rare opportunity to invest in a vibrant area that is ripe for development,” he said. 

“We anticipate strong interest in this unique site and expect it to appeal to both build-to-rent and student accommodation investors and developers.”