Plans have been put forward for new apartments on the first floor of Crewe's old M&S building, sold at auction for £361,000 in July.

Applicant, Mr Jacob Fekete, of Fekete Group of Companies, has submitted prior approval for a change of use to the first floor at 39-45 Market Street.

Mr Fekete wants to convert the former M&S upstairs into 14 apartments, comprised of one and two bedrooms, along with a communal gym facility.

The applicant wants to convert the former M&S upstairs into 14 apartments, comprised of one and two bedrooms, along with a communal gym facility (CEC Planning).

The late 19th-century building has been empty since a pop-up Lambretta Outlet closed in early 2018.

M&S traded from the 27,417 sq ft building until August 2017, when it relocated to Grand Junction Retail Park.

The building sold at auction for over £200,000 above its initial guide price of between £125,000 and £150,000.

Located in a prominent position, fronting Market Square, the town centre building will be remain as commercial use on the ground floor.

Reacting to the auction sale, Crewe and Nantwich MP, Connor Naismith, old Nub News: "I have spoken to the architect who is representing the owners of the building..

"This is an owner who is proactively engaging with me and Cheshire East Council because they want to do something with this unit.

M&S traded from the 27,417 sq ft building until August 2017, when it relocated to Grand Junction Retail Park (Ryan Parker).

"That is a million miles better than the situation we were in with the building's previous owner.

"I think there is a real reason to be positive about the future of this unit."

The last date for submitting comments is Wednesday 12 November, with a target decision date of Monday 17 November.

READ MORE: Storage giant starts work to open in 'thriving and busy' Crewe.

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