An iconic Manchester warehouse, home to the city’s newest aparthotel Native and latest food and drinks destination Cultureplex, has been sold for £80m.
The recently relaunched red-bricked Ducie Street Warehouse has been sold to Deka Immobilien by Ares Investment Management, which purchased the 120,000 sq ft block for £25m in 2016.
Ares, in partnership with developer Capital & Centric, bought the former Place Aparthotel from Goldman Sachs and Greystar.
The historic warehouse previously formed part of a £290m portfolio owned by collapsed student accommodation provider Opal Group.
A £25m refurbishment completed last month, delivered by Ares’ operator arm Native and contractor Styles & Wood.
It includes a sympathetic restoration to most of the building’s original features including exposed brickwork, vaulted ceilings and wrought-iron girders and columns.
A new glass atrium roof has been installed over the lobby area and there are seven floors of accommodation.
The grade two-listed property is now made up of 158 studio, one-bed and two-bed aparthotel suites as well as eight penthouses.
Each room is kitted out as a home-from-home with decor, solid oak parquet floors, super kingsize beds, mid-century style Conran furnishings, smart TVs and fully-equipped kitchens with dishwashers and washing machines.
In addition to the apartments, the ground floor contains an all-day lounge, mini-cinema, coffee shop, restaurant, private meeting and dining rooms and outdoor terraces, operated by Bistrotheque through its Cultureplex arm.
It is also home to boutique gym Blok and coffee shop Klatch.
Looming over the Rochdale canal basin behind Piccadilly, the warehouse has a history stretching back to 1867.
Originally belonging to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, it was used to store cotton bales shipped over from America, before they were sent down the canals to the mills of London.
