This abandoned store has allegedly been greenlit for developments in the past week. It has been empty since 2016.
If it were up to me, I would be inclined to reopen it as a store. We seem to be short on iconic stores in NI.
Edit: better format
It’s been bought and handed over to the inner city trust. Needs serious restoration. Would make a great hotel or gallery, with all it’s period features.
5 floors of nail bars, barbers and pound shops.
Shared space strip club
Need to open a Guapo in there.
Wetherspoons.
Give it to the Islamic community
Art gallery and restaurant and a bar on the top floor
It should be turned into a mosque, it already has the pointy thingy on top of a dome on roof.it be ideal for the “new Irish ” lads in the local community.
I think that would be a great idea.🙏👀
Turkish barbers
A library with a coffee shop and some study rooms and function rooms.
Get rid of the escalator. Pure vandalism that
Laser tag. And a Guapo.
A restaurant would do
Poundland.
Seriously tho, never seen that before, lovely building
It’s a fine looking building
Lovely building. If they could remediate the asbestos issue, would be suited to a number of uses. Hotel maybe? Arts centre? (probably not viable in the current economic client, but we can dream, right?)
We really should be making more of our incredible architecture in all cities. There are examples of how to do it right. Primark Bank building, Clanmill’s HQ , Conway mill up the falls, Templemore Avenue baths spring to mind.
Looks kind of Mosque like? Could we potentially be looking at a shared community space?
Just spitballing here, all I can say for certain is “Please, Please, Please preserve it”
Vape shop, Barnardos, 3 empty units, sunbeds, and a milkshake establishment on the ground floor and social housing apartments above it.
It’s a gorgeous building! A hotel or community space would be amazing
Father in law reckoned he’d heard it was bought in the last couple of weeks and is going to become a hotel….but he chats shit regularly so not a reliable source 🤣
I want it to be 1993, and my granny taking me to Austins cafe for a sausage roll and fanta so fuckinnn muchhh
They will probably turn it into a mosque
Detox centre
Austins is closed??? 🥲🥲🥲 Sorry I live abroad. Used to go there with my grandmother and mother as a kid. They loved the place. I enjoyed it too as I always loved charismatic old buildings all my life and this building was very interesting to me. How sad.
Who owned it and when did they stop trading?
🙏
It’d make a great mosque, give it to the Muslims.
If I worked for Disney, I’d be showing this to my boss
Level it
Surely it should be given over to asylum seekers 🤣
Stormont’s Department of Finance has an absolute ton of art in storage that the public never gets to see, and yet was paid for by… the public.
“The collection now has over 1,800 works, valued in 2020 at over £2.5 million.”
Grade A listed and in the center of the walled city conservation area, exterior basically can’t be changed at all, but who would want to given how it does look.
(Therefore also able to receive grants for maintainance, but don’t know if that includes inside, doubt it can be used for anything more than structural works)
Kinda agree with what was said about the library idea, might be similar to the Linen Hall Library in Belf CC.
32 comments
This abandoned store has allegedly been greenlit for developments in the past week. It has been empty since 2016.
If it were up to me, I would be inclined to reopen it as a store. We seem to be short on iconic stores in NI.
Edit: better format
It’s been bought and handed over to the inner city trust. Needs serious restoration. Would make a great hotel or gallery, with all it’s period features.
5 floors of nail bars, barbers and pound shops.
Shared space strip club
Need to open a Guapo in there.
Wetherspoons.
Give it to the Islamic community
Art gallery and restaurant and a bar on the top floor
It should be turned into a mosque, it already has the pointy thingy on top of a dome on roof.it be ideal for the “new Irish ” lads in the local community.
I think that would be a great idea.🙏👀
Turkish barbers
A library with a coffee shop and some study rooms and function rooms.
Get rid of the escalator. Pure vandalism that
Laser tag. And a Guapo.
A restaurant would do
Poundland.
Seriously tho, never seen that before, lovely building
It’s a fine looking building
Lovely building. If they could remediate the asbestos issue, would be suited to a number of uses. Hotel maybe? Arts centre? (probably not viable in the current economic client, but we can dream, right?)
We really should be making more of our incredible architecture in all cities. There are examples of how to do it right. Primark Bank building, Clanmill’s HQ , Conway mill up the falls, Templemore Avenue baths spring to mind.
Looks kind of Mosque like? Could we potentially be looking at a shared community space?
Just spitballing here, all I can say for certain is “Please, Please, Please preserve it”
Vape shop, Barnardos, 3 empty units, sunbeds, and a milkshake establishment on the ground floor and social housing apartments above it.
It’s a gorgeous building! A hotel or community space would be amazing
Father in law reckoned he’d heard it was bought in the last couple of weeks and is going to become a hotel….but he chats shit regularly so not a reliable source 🤣
I want it to be 1993, and my granny taking me to Austins cafe for a sausage roll and fanta so fuckinnn muchhh
They will probably turn it into a mosque
Detox centre
Austins is closed??? 🥲🥲🥲 Sorry I live abroad. Used to go there with my grandmother and mother as a kid. They loved the place. I enjoyed it too as I always loved charismatic old buildings all my life and this building was very interesting to me. How sad.
Who owned it and when did they stop trading?
🙏
It’d make a great mosque, give it to the Muslims.
If I worked for Disney, I’d be showing this to my boss
Level it
Surely it should be given over to asylum seekers 🤣
Stormont’s Department of Finance has an absolute ton of art in storage that the public never gets to see, and yet was paid for by… the public.
“The collection now has over 1,800 works, valued in 2020 at over £2.5 million.”
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/northern-ireland-civil-service-art-collection
I’d love to see it showcased somewhere. Occasionally some of it does go on display https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-03/OPW_Connections%20Catalogue_V8.1%20FA%20Digital%202%20LR%2096.pdf
A Disney castle!
Town needs a new Wetherspoon.
Grade A listed and in the center of the walled city conservation area, exterior basically can’t be changed at all, but who would want to given how it does look.
(Therefore also able to receive grants for maintainance, but don’t know if that includes inside, doubt it can be used for anything more than structural works)
Kinda agree with what was said about the library idea, might be similar to the Linen Hall Library in Belf CC.
Comments are closed.