
Plans are currently being developed for the Macclesfield M&S store on Mill Street, due to close in autumn 2022, to be transformed into a new office, coworking, retail and leisure hub for the town, Place North West has revealed.
The scheme has been given the moniker ‘The Hub’, with BDP Architects currently developing designs for the 56,000 sq ft store, which will close once a new M&S Simply Food store opens at the Barracks Mill Retail Park later this year.
While no formal planning application for redeveloping the property have been submitted, agents Colliers and Hallams Property Consultants have been revealed to be marketing early stage plans for the site on behalf of a private investor. A marketing brochure obtained by Place North West has revealed initial ambitions for a five-storey building which include retail and leisure spaces on the ground floor, a 5,260 sq ft co-working space on the first floor, and offices above.
Mixed use proposals for the large store are reminiscent of STOK, a redevelopment of the former M&S store in nearby Stockport town centre, which once complete will see the larger retail unit broken up for high quality town centre office space and retail and leisure units at street level.
The new use for the former M&S store could represent a boost for Macclesfield town centre; the announcement of the pending closure of the Mill Street store had prompted calls for the council to accelerate its regeneration programme. With nearby M&S branches in Buxton and Stockport closed before the pandemic, the store had been a strong draw for shoppers coming to Macclesfield town centre from further afield.