It’s been three years of navigating planning paperwork, investment and carefully-curating the aesthetic, but a landmark corner of the city centre has now been brought back to life in style.

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.

Property developer Darryl Cullerton upstairs at The Four Corner Collective as works continue | Sunderland Echo

placeholder image — Property developer Darryl Cullerton upstairs at The Four Corner Collective as works continue | Sunderland Echo

The buy-to-let landlord’s speciality is taking oft-forgotten buildings, many of which are in dire need of repair, and repurposing them for future use.

Currently in the city centre, he’s juggling three big projects: the former Masons amusements in Holmeside, the old Johns Hairdressing in Sunniside and the corner of Mary Street and Stockton Road.

The corner of Mary Street and Stockton Road has been reborn as The Four Corner Collective | Sunderland Echo

The latter has been his biggest property lesson yet, as Darryl tells the Echo.

“I’m a Sunderland lad through and through and I wanted to bring something to this corner of the city centre that it hasn’t got - but this has been my biggest property lesson yet,” explained the businessman.

Darryl purchased the corner block, a gateway to the city centre at its junction with Park Lane Interchange, 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 empty Victorian block, with its awkwardly-shaped rooms.

And now it’s all coming together, with the development as a whole now known as The Four Corner Collective.

Darryl has created an office in one of the units for Lemon Property. In the next unit, Fretta by Ruhe, a coffee and brunch shop, has opened as the first commercial tenant and will soon expand into the unit next door, meaning only one of the commercial units remains.

Darryl's company, Lemon Property, has its office in one of the commercial units on the ground floor | Sunderland Echo

Upstairs, four serviced apartments are nearing completion, with a view to opening by Christmas, which 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.

As the city centre economy and CBD (central business district) grows thanks to large-scale investments such as the Riverside Development, the four apartments will help meet the demand for quality serviced apartments in the city centre.

An artist's impression of how one of the serviced apartments will look | Pulp Studios Design

“When I say I have Air BnBs in Sunderland people laugh, but I know from my previous projects just how much of a demand there is. We have never released this block properly yet, and we already have a commercial tenant and enquiries about the apartments,” said Darryl.

“Having Jo from Ruhe opening Fretta was a total no brainer, she’s perfect for the quality of business we want in here.”

He added: “I want to bring a niche set of businesses to this end of the city centre. On the other side, you have Mackie’s Corner, which is fantastic, but I wanted to do something smaller but of the same sort of standard at this end to keep Sunderland moving and on the up.

“I’ve been saying Sunderland is on the up for years and people can see that happening with all the developments.”

Meanwhile, work is ongoing at the former Masons Amusements in Holmeside, one of Darryl’s other big projects, which will house two large commercial units on the ground floor and eight high-end serviced apartments in the upper floors.

Over the road, Darryl brought no 13 Holmeside back in 2015 and initially turned it into six student apartments upstairs, winning the North East Student Housing Award in 2017.

After the pandemic affected the student market, he turned them into Air BnBs and they currently have Superhost status, used by business professionals visiting the city, from NHS staff to touring theatre company members.

“We’ve took our time with Four Corner Collective,” said Darryl. “But we really wanted to get it right - and we can’t wait to release it at Christmas.”