ONE of Bolton’s most iconic buildings, which houses the Beales department store, has been sold for £800,000.

The former Whitakers building, based in Deansgate, has been sold on an online property auction site and Beales is now expected to leave the famous black and white premises by January 24.

The property is described as an ‘attractive Grade II listed department store comprising retail and office accommodation’, on the Acuitus auction website, where it is confirmed that an £800,000 sale has been agreed.

And according to the site, any future tenants of the building could be liable to pay rental fees of more than £560,000.

News of the sale comes after it was announced in September that Beales would be ceasing trading in the town.

At the time, company bosses explained that they were ‘very disappointed’ to be closing the Bolton store, but said difficulties had arrived after the landlord of the main building went into administration.

Beales said it was unable to agree rental terms with the administrator, BDO LLP, in order to continue trading profitably.

The department store — which is currently undertaking a closing down sale — also operates in the adjoining building, Paderborn House, which is owned by Bolton Council.

That building is rented on a separate lease and does not form any part of the £800,000 sale.

The leader of Bolton Council, Cliff Morris, expressed sadness that the iconic department store would be leaving the town, but said he was pleased that a successful sale had gone through.

He said: “Although we are sad to see Beales leave, we are pleased that the sale of the building has gone through to enable the site to be occupied in the future.

“We look forward to seeing who comes forward.”

The Beales group, based in Bournemouth, was founded in 1881 and last year returned to private ownership, when it was acquired by businessman Andrew Perloff.

In March, the group won the support of landlords to cut rents on 11 loss-making stores across the country — including Bolton.

But the Company Voluntary Arrangement was not enough to save the town centre store.

However, the CVA has led to Beales only having to pay a fraction of the contractual rental amount in their remaining time in the Deansgate store.

According to the Acuitius website, under the terms of the CVA, the rent has been reduced to £168,257 — a quarter of the contractual rent for the property, which stands at £560,856.

That reduced rent will be paid by Beales up until January 24, after which the department store will vacate the premises.

Originally, the famous black and white building opened under the name Whitakers in 1829 — with the name change taking place in 2011 in a bid to bring all stores under the Beales’ banner.

No one from Beales was available for a comment.