Developers responsible for one of the Manchester city centre's most iconic buildings - slammed by a councillor as the 'scruffiest' - have issued a defiant statement after being accused of 'letting the city down'.
German real estate investment firm AM alpha have been criticised over the state of the Rylands building on Market Street, the former home of Debenhams. The store closed in May 2021.
Councillor Pat Karney, city centre spokesperson at the council, dubbed the building Manchester's 'scruffiest'. The town hall said it was given promises the building would be tidied up as soon as possible.
READ MORE: 'They have let the city down': Fury over former Debenhams site as threat issued to developer
But weeks later, the once proud department store still has smashed windows and graffiti. The building's owners have been warned their redevelopment plans could be stalled by the town hall until they sort the the appearance of the Grade II-listed building.
The building is owned by CD9 Properties (Manchester) Limited, which is registered in Guernsey. Last month, it was announced that German real estate investment firm AM alpha was working on the redevelopment project for the Rylands, which will be built out by Russell WBHO.
AM alpha bosses have now issued a statement. They said there have been extensive 'efforts' to deal with the problem, but that it keeps 'persisting.
The firm said working on the building was a 'privilege', with bosses saying they are also saddened by constant vandalism. They confirmed contractors should be on site within 'weeks' and that they hope they can maintain a close relationship with the council.
Stephan Schmid, senior vice president told the Manchester Evening News: "Working with listed buildings is a privilege and we are saddened that vandalism has occurred regularly at Rylands since the building was vacated.
"We have made efforts to deal with the damages while development plans have been ongoing, but unfortunately, the problem has persisted.
"We're determined to keep an open line of communication with Manchester City Council and want to work collaboratively with them throughout the project to ensure our ambitions for the scheme align with the public interest. We remain committed to delivering on our vision and our contractors will be on site in the coming weeks to begin work."
A spokesperson for Manchester council previously said: "During December we have had numerous assurances that the frontage of Debenhams would be cleaned up. We are very disappointed that this has not happened and we will be urgently contacting the building's agent."
Coun Karney previously said: "Work is due to start on the building in 2023 and the agent will be seeking meetings with the city council's highways and planning officials. These meetings will not take place until they clean up the building.
"I will be calling them in next week so they can tell us why they have let the city down."
The redevelopment is set to involve a four-storey extension - taking the building's total height to 10 floors - and should include a shopping arcade, restaurants and offices, according to the plans. Work is expected to begin next year and finish in early 2025.
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