Former Debenhams store in Middlesbrough up for sale

The prominent town-centre building, at the corner of Newport Road and Linthorpe Road, is seeking offers above £1.75 million.

The six-storey building has stood empty since Debenhams closed in May 2021 after 110 years in the town.

The French Baroque style property was initially put up for sale two years after closing for £1.2 million before being sold to an unnamed property company in early 2024. 

Despite this, the building remained empty and was sold to an unknown buyer just before it was set to go under the hammer in late 2025 with a guide price of £350,000. 

The 71,076 sq ft building is now back on the market, this time through Portfolio Properties.

Portfolio Properties describes the former store as a “prime town centre location” with “potential for alternative uses”.

It became a department store in 1912, when drapers and dressmakers Newhouses opened on the site of the former King’s Head Hotel.

How Debenhams used to look as Newhouses (Image: NORTHERN ECHO ARCHIVE)

The building was extended from the 1960s and remains fitted out for open-plan retail.

Debenhams operated there until May 2021, when Boohoo bought the brand and closed its UK stores.

The brand then moved online-only.

Debenhams is among several major retailers to leave Middlesbrough town centre in the past ten years, including House of Fraser in 2022, Marks and Spencer in 2023 and Next in 2025.

The former BHS is now home to a large Sports Direct and USC, but the former House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer and Next stores remain empty.

Ideal Home Store was due to replace Marks and Spencer with a department store and café, but the venture has failed to open.