The former Penrith Co-Op building in Burrowgate, which has stood empty for a decade, has been placed on the market for offers over £2 million.
The former Co-Op store closed in February 2016 with the loss of 26 jobs. At the time, Lakes & Dales Co-operative — formed in 2013 through the merger of Penrith Co-operative Society and Scotmid Society based in Edinburgh — said the closure was due to intense competition between food retailers in the town. The society stated that the Penrith store had been unprofitable for a number of years and that losses had reached an unsustainable level which was impacting the wider business.
Since its closure, the substantial town centre building has remained unused. Planning permission was approved in 2019 to convert the property into 40 apartments with four retail units, but no work has taken place since the plans were approved by the former Eden District Council.
The prominent 48,093 sq ft property is now being marketed by Liverpool-based Mason Owen Chartered Surveyors. The agents have confirmed that the Burrowgate premises benefit from extant planning permission for residential conversion.
The building’s first floor is accessed via stairs or two passenger lifts and comprises extensive open-plan accommodation with generous floor-to-ceiling heights. An attached annex provides a four-storey property arranged over basement, ground, first and second floors. The annex is connected to 19 Burrowgate at second-floor level via a covered walkway bridge and includes an internal staircase and a goods lift. A customer car park to the rear of the annex provides space for approximately 12 vehicles.
Over the past decade the vacant building has suffered from broken windows and has been the subject of police incidents involving youths climbing onto sections of the rooftop, leading to repeated calls for action to be taken. Suggestions from members of the public and local councillors over the years have ranged from alternative leisure uses such as a bowling alley to proposals for complete demolition to create a new town centre public space.
The sale comes at a time that Penrith currently has £3 million allocated through the Borderlands Town Deal for regeneration projects. To date, £118,000 has been awarded to Penrith Players for refurbishment of the theatre, while Penrith Town Council has used £196,116 of the funding to deliver new signage across the town.
The sale of the Burrowgate property has been described as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and with Borderlands funding available, attention will now turn to whether council leaders or private investors will step forward to bring forward a long-awaited regeneration of one of Penrith’s most prominent town centre buildings.
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