The new owners of Queens House say the upper floors could have potential for future alternative uses
Queens House in Hull(Image: M Core)
A prominent Hull city centre building could soon see changes and investment after being snapped up by a £6bn private property group. The mixed-use Queens House building is based in the heart of Hull’s main retail and cultural district and faces onto pedestrianised streets, with a number of national and independent retailers.
The rectangular building, fronting onto King Edward Street, Jameson Street, Paragon Street and Chapel Street, is home to a host of big High Street names including McDonalds, Barclays, Card Factory, GDK, Card Factory, Hays Travel and Three, as well as a number of apartments.
Now the city centre building – built in the 1950s and based in the Jameson Street Conservation Area – has been snapped up in a significant deal by West Midlands investors M Core, one of the UK’s biggest private property collectives with a pan-European portfolio worth billions of pounds. It has been snapped up as part of a trio of properties in its first deal of the year.
M Core is growing fast, having swooped for a number of prime buildings across the UK over the last few years, including Warrington’s Cockhedge retail park, Harrogate’s Victoria shopping centre, Whitley Bay’s Park View and Solihull’s Chelmsley Wood shopping centre. Now it says it the four-storey, locally listed Hull building could have potential for future alternative uses.
M Core said it has marked a strong start to 2026 with the acquisition of Queens House in Hull, Newton Hall in Durham and Triangle Centre in Clevedon. A spokesman said the acquisitions “reinforce M Core’s continued commitment to investing in well-located, high-potential assets across the UK’s regional towns and cities”.
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It said Queens House’s location directly opposite the £96m Albion Square regeneration project, and within Hull City Council’s wider £19.5m programme to revitalise the city centre, creates “a strong platform for repositioning and long-term value”.
As well retailers, it upper floors are said to offer “scope for active management and potential future alternative uses, in line with the city’s ambition to deliver more than 2,500 new homes in the centre by 2032”.
James Buchanan, group managing director at M Core, added: “These acquisitions set a positive tone for the year ahead. Queens House is a major city-centre asset with clear long-term potential, while Newton Hall and the Triangle Centre offers resilient neighbourhood retail in a well-established community. Both align with our approach of disciplined investment and intensive management, supporting local economies and delivering value over time.”
Queens House was previously owned and managed by the Goodwin Development Trust, a charitable organisation which carried out a £1.1m redevelopment project with funding from the Government. Pre-pandemic in 2019, the Trust sought planning permission for the change of use of the second and third floors, which were predominantly in use as offices, to create 27 flats.
The planning bid came after it got the green light for the conversion of other parts of the upper floors of the building to flats in 2014. M Core said its asset and property management teams will now start engaging with occupiers, local authority partners and stakeholders, with discussions poised to include future opportunities.
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