The owner of the Stamford Quarter has submitted plans to redevelop Rackhams in Altrincham into a retail, office and residential scheme.
On Friday we reported how Lunar Altrincham Sarl, which owns the long leasehold of Stamford Quarter, had served notice Mike Ashley to leave the building less than a year after the Sports Direct owner had bought all the House of Fraser stores out of administration.
And confirming its intention to completely reimagine the department store that is a fixture of the Altrincham high street, Lunar is proposing to reconfigure the existing 60,000 sq ft, three-level store into a mixed-use scheme.
This will include three retail units, totalling 22,700 sq ft, on the lower ground and ground floors, 17,244 sq ft of offices on the first floor and a new development of 62 one- and two-bed flats above.
A planning application has been submitted to Trafford Council, the freehold owners of Stamford Quarter shopping centre.
The news does confirm that the 45 staff currently employed by House of Fraser at the store are likely to lose their jobs.
Lunar said the scheme would be the “final piece” of its regeneration of Stamford Quarter, which now includes American gym Orangetheory Fitness, Danish retailer Sostrene Grene and Flannels, all recent additions to the Stamford Quarter.
Iain Minto, director of Lunar Altrincham, said: “The remodelling of the department store is the final piece of our regeneration of Stamford Quarter. We believe that redeveloping this important area of the centre for a high-quality, mixed-use scheme will strike the right balance in Altrincham which, through continuing investment and strategic direction, has gone from strength to strength in recent years.”
Pozzoni are the architects for the mixed-use scheme. HRH Retail and Barker Proudlove are joint letting agents for Stamford Quarter.
