Offers of more than £4m are currently being accepted for the former department store site. Credit: PNW

Chester Debenhams on market for £4m

29 April 2022 16:52 Julia Hatmaker Comments (0)

Allsop is marketing the historic 153,270 sq ft building, located off Eastgate Street, on behalf of British Land.

The grade one- and two-listed property has a variety of architectural styles from Tudor to Gothic, as well as a few extensions built in 2002. The building has multiple levels, including a sub-basement, basement, ground floor and three upper floors.

The oldest part of the building dates to 1858.

Debenhams ceased trading in the space in May last year, when all of its stores were shuttered.

The future purchaser of the building need not retain it as a retail space. The brochure from Allsop states that the building could, subject to planning, be reconfigured into a mixed-use space with a hotel or as multiple retail units with offices above. It could also have its upper levels converted into residential or student accommodation.

Allsop is accepting offers of more than £4m on the building, which is next to Grosvenor Shopping Centre. That price tag represents a capital value of £26.10/sq ft.

The building has an EPC rating of B.

News of the fates of the other former Debenhams stores in the North West has been trickling in. Manchester City Council approved plans in 2021 to turn the old store at the Rylands Building into a retail arcade, with offices and a winter garden. The Debenhams in Liverpool is set to become a leisure attraction with e-karting, bowling, urban golf and restaurants. Meanwhile, Stockport wants to build a hospital on the site of its old Debenhams.

Learn more about the development scene in Chester at Place North West‘s Cheshire Development Update on 23 June.