Landmark Wigan building which once housed Maximes nightclub transformed with £6m apartment scheme

Bryan House, on Standishgate, was previously used as offices and is the former home of Maximes nightclub, which held music and dance events for decades.

The site was bought by Liverpool-based Caro Developments from Hurstwood Holdings in July, with the firm leasing the first floor for its new flagship self-storage business Hurstwood Self Store, which is due to open in December.

Now contractor Newry Construction has been appointed to refurbish the upper floors of the five-storey building to create 48 apartments in the first large-scale town centre residential project in Wigan.

Caro managing director Neil Carlyle said: “There’s a lot of investment coming into Wigan and this is our second development in the town centre.

“The regeneration of The Galleries by Beijing Construction is now well under way and there is genuine confidence in the town’s prospects. The time felt right to bring a sophisticated, design-led residential offer to the market.”

Architects Falconer Chester Hall – well-known for delivering major city centre residential schemes in Liverpool, Salford and Manchester – are the scheme’s designers.

The apartments have been designed to bring a “fresh and crisp urban design” to the market, with developers promising high-end fixtures and fittings and quality finishes throughout.

Construction is expected to take nine months.

Ritchie Watson, corporate lending director at Together, said: “We are excited to be building on our long-standing relationship with Caro and are proud to be their financial partner on this latest project.

“This is a fantastic scheme, which involves a local developer breathing new life into an underused mixed-use building, sensitively renovating the former offices. Once completed, the scheme will create contemporary and much-needed accommodation in Wigan’s thriving town centre.”

Michael Gledhill, managing director at RW Invest, said: “We are proud to be launching our fifth project with Caro Developments, following the successful completion and 100 per cent occupancy of all previous sites. Wigan is an exciting area for investors, with multiple regeneration prospects and good transport links. We look forward to the project welcoming tenants in spring 2023.”

The ground floor of Bryan House is let on a mix of leases to three retail and leisure businesses.