Victorian mill goes on sale for £7.25m
A LANDMARK Victorian mill which is set to be transformed into swanky new flats is on the market for £7.25m.
Meadow Mill, which was built in 1880 and has permission to be transformed into 200 apartments, will go under the hammer later this month.
Current owners, William George Homes, bought the property, which is next to the Tesco superstore at Portwood, in 2016 for around £2.5m and drew up extensive plans to turn it into a £20m ‘gateway’ development.
Stockport council agreed the failing and deteriorating mill would be transformed into 213 apartments earlier this year.
According to the proposals, there would also be retail space and a restaurant on the ground floor, as well as 173 car parking spaces and a children’s play area.
There would also be 50 studios, 62 one-bedroom, seven one-bedroom duplex, 78 two-bedroom, two two-bedroom duplex and 14 three-bedroom duplex apartments.
Now the developer has put the 19thcentury mill back on the market for almost £5m more than it paid.
A report with the original application by Peter Rowlinson Planning said: “The gateway prominence of the site is both in respect to Stockport town centre and the River Tame valley network.
“The planning proposals will provide the necessary financial viability to create an impressive ‘grand residential and commercial premises.’
Originally built for T & J Leigh cotton and wool spinning, by 1914 it is understood that the mill boasted 120,000 spindles.
However, more than 100 years later almost half the giant mill is unused through lack of demand or because it is unusable.
The mill itself is partly vacant with industrial, leisure and retail uses on the first four floors.
If the site does not sell, William George Homes will continue with the development itself.
Auctioneer Richard Adamson said: “This is a rare opportunity to purchase a unique and iconic Grade II listed former cotton mill that now has planning consent granted to provide a total of 213 flats together with approximately 2,500 (26,910 sq ft) of commercial space.
“This is likely to be an exciting new chapter for Meadow Mill and a great opportunity for a developer to breathe a new lease of life into housing and employment for the local area.”
Meadow Mill is for sale ahead of the auction but if no purchase is agreed it will go under the hammer on October 26 at Cumberland Hotel in London.