Trafford Council has today approved a planning application to turn Altrincham’s historic Post Office building into a vintage tearoom and independent business hub.
The council’s planning committee sat to consider whether to give the go-ahead to convert the ground floor of the Stamford New Road building, which has been vacant since the post office was closed in 2006.
Approval means that the structural building work on the 4,700 sq ft site will now begin on January 26th, with an intended opening date in March. It will be known, as we exclusively revealed, as The Old Post Rooms.
Local retail entrepreneur Catherine Matthews, who has taken a 10-year lease on the property and will run the tearooms herself, told Altrincham Today she has eight remaining units left to sub-let to independent businesses in the area.
Traders from the Emporium on The Downs – including Delve Furniture Revamp & Handmade Gifts, Mr Squimps Shop, Little House Interiors, Plum and Pigeon, Raindrops and Roses, Timperley Tea, Steve Entwistle Photography and The Odd Glass – will be moving en masse to the new site. Ladies boutique Madam Butterfly will also be taking a unit in the building.
Matthews said: “Location is paramount when you’re trading and it has that in abundance. It’s an opportunity for small businesses who don’t want to make a long term commitment.”
Units are available on three-month leases at a starting rate of £110 per week – inclusive of insurances, heating, rates and rent – rising to £150 per week for units by the building’s large windows.
The former Post Office, part of the Mossburn Buildings, was built in 1899 when developer John Henderson Brown commissioned local architect John Macnamara. The same team was responsible for many of the finest buildings in Altrincham, including in 1905 the Station Buildings, now Stamford House.
UPDATE April 17 2015: Refurbishment is progressing well but owner Catherine Matthews tells us they are now targeting an opening date in “late May”.
Below: The former Post Office, soon to be known as The Old Post Rooms
