When Debenhams closed their Ipswich store the building was purchased by the Unex Group, a family firm owned (and chaired) by Bill Gredley of Newmarket. It is understood that Unex paid £3 million for the freehold of the building. Unex have an enviable recent history in the innovative reuse of similar redundant buildings. Previous redevelopments and new uses include what was the Fraser House/Maple Court building on the corner of Princes and Museum Streets  (Savills occupy the corner ground floor unit).

The Unex Group portfolio includes numerous buildings across East Anglia from the elliptical 26 storey Unex Tower in East London, adjacent to the Stratford transport hub (National Rail Network, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway and ‘bus station) to Unex House in Peterborough. As could be expected given that their headquarters are in Stetchworth, southwest of Newmarket, their largest portfolio is in Cambridge.

Debenhams today

Unex haven’t yet announced potential new uses for the Ipswich building but their architects have an enviable record of designing flexible spaces and Unex, a history of rooting out a variety of potential users. In Ipswich it is probable that the ground floor will be divided into smaller retail units and favourable rents could well attract those stores currently trading on what has become the periphery of the town centre to move closer to the Cornhill.

It was initially hoped that some retailers would be trading by October and across the all- important Christmas period, but this now seems unlikely. There has been speculation that the basement could be a music venue (nightclub) but this might compromise potential use of the upper floors as residential, alternatively the first and second floors could become offices, possibly to have a non-invasive medical use (clinic, advice centre, diagnostic testing) or become a modern apartment-hotel (the agent’s brochure goes on to suggest Ipswich receives 3.5 million tourist visits per year).

The building also has the potential for a leisure use (including restaurant), contributing to the night-time economy of the town centre. Speculation suggests this could spill out of the building onto a pedestrianised part of Lloyds Avenue to provide al fresco dining.

Debenhams closed in May 2021 after two centuries of retailing. The original Footman’s store was founded in 1815, hence ‘Waterloo House’, and moved onto the Westgate Street/Lloyds Avenue corner site in 1842. The current store was built in 1979 with a basement supermarket, ground floor and two upper floors.

John Norman

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