City businessman transforms prime corner unit into hub of independents and serviced apartments

A city businessman who’s carved a niche by buying old properties in need of repair in his home city and repurposing them for the future has completed his latest regeneration project.

Property developer Darryl Cullerton, from Castletown, has long had a passion for investing in his home city and over the years has acquired a multi-million pound portfolio of more than 80 properties.

This week sees the completion and launch of his Four Corner Collective project, which has brought new life to the corner block of Mary Street, next to Park Lane Interchange, at a gateway to the city centre.

Darryl purchased the corner block from Siglion with the upstairs floor previously used for council offices.

Downstairs, meanwhile, was comprised of four units, with only Hot Rats trading at the time. Darryl offered for the record shop to stay, but it relocated to Waterloo Place.

It left Darryl and his team at Lemon Property Investment Limited with the task of giving new life to the whole of the empty Victorian block, with its awkwardly-shaped rooms.

After more than three years of work, the major restoration is complete with four commercial units on the ground floor, now home to Fretta by Ruhe in two units, Opulent Ink semipermanent makeup and fine line tattoos in another and Darryl’s offices in the fourth unit.

Upstairs, meanwhile, is now home to four serviced apartments aimed at plugging a gap in the city centre for quality apartments for leisure visitors to the city, as well as people visiting for business.

It’s been a big property lesson for Darryl, who is also juggling the massive renovation of the former Masons Amusements in Holmeside and the former John’s Hairdressing in Sunniside, among many other property developments across the city.

But he says he’s ‘made up’ to see his vision for this corner block finally come to life.

“As you can see, the ground floor is now fully complete,” Darryl told the Echo. “But we’ve taken extra time with the upper floors because we wanted to bring some really high end serviced accommodation into Sunderland city centre.

“I feel like the city centre was struggling for that kind of accommodation, for people from out of town visiting family and for executives coming to the city.”

The four self-catering apartments - named The Pavilion, The Loft, The Studio and The Gallery - have been designed by Gerard Mcelvenny of Pulp Studios Design House, who has worked on some of the city’s most-stylish projects including Keel Tavern, Port of Call and Flower Cafe.

“I worked really closely with our interior designers to bring the best possible serviced accommodation I possibly could to Sunderland. I wanted to bring something that isn’t out of place in London, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh - something that goes pound for pound up against everybody,” added Darryl.

“We’ve put in so much attention to detail and really care about bringing the best projects to Sunderland city centre.

“I’m Sunderland born and bred - from Castletown - and I eat, sleep and breathe Sunderland. I hope people get behind people like me who are investing heavily and taking massive financial risks to bring the best I possibly can to old buildings in Sunderland city centre.”

He added: “I’m really made up with what we’ve done here as I feel like anyone who comes and stays here will feel like they’re in a really exclusive city.”

The Four Corner Collective will welcome its first guests from this weekend, with booking for the apartments, which each sleeps up to two people, available at North East Escapes.

The apartments are self-catering, but moving forward there will be scope for a bed and breakfast option with Fretta by Ruhe cafe and coffee shop downstairs.

The Four Corner Collective apartments are a flavour of what we can expect from the the former Masons Amusements in Holmeside which Darryl is busy transforming.

The ground floor is already complete at the £1m project, which is being reborn as The Printworks, named after the building’s time as the Northumbria Printworks.

The two new ground floor units are now home to Price & Co aesthetics, with a tenant soon to move into the neighbouring unit.

Meanwhile, the upper floors will house eight high-end serviced apartments.