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The former Joplings department store in Sunderland is set for a new future after being bought by the city council.

The one-time retail property, based in a prime position between Riverside Sunderland and Sunniside, has been bought by the authority in moves to bring in new retailers, bar and restaurant operators into the city. The building, which was converted into student accommodation around five years ago, will be improved at ground floor level to attract retail, or food and drink businesses which the local authority says will bring vibrancy to the street level.

Additional investment will also be ploughed into the upper floors, improving the external fascia which was left unfinished by the previous owner. The acquisition will allow the council to maintain the current use of the building, after suggestions the building could be sold and repurposed.

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Coun Kevin Johnston, dynamic city cabinet member at Sunderland City Council, said: “Our residents deserve a city centre they can be proud of, and - wherever we can impact on that - we are delivering.

“Council-led developments like our City Hall, The Beam and the multi-storey car park at Farringdon Row, are raising the bar in the city centre and, in turn, this pushes others to do the same.

“We cannot buy or develop every single building in the city centre, but what we can do is nurture an environment in which our traders are given the best possible chance of success, by ensuring the right developments move forward and with our plans for Sunniside – which will see the development of a new cluster of creative studio-homes – we want to knit this into the transforming Riverside Sunderland area and ensure the quality of offer in the city centre is as high as possible.”

Jopling House is currently divided into 140 en-suite apartments, targeting students looking for accommodation close to campus. It is understood that the site’s previous owners were in talks that could have seen it move away from student accommodation.

The building bridges the gap between the city centre and the new Riverside Sunderland developmentm, where two new offices – Maker and Faber – are set to open next year, as well as the Sheepfolds Stables leisure destination, and work on the new river crossing for pedestrians.

Coun Johnston added: “It is important, in the context of our hugely ambitious aims for the city centre, that this site attracts the right kind and level of ongoing investment, to keep pace with the quality of development we are bringing forward elsewhere in the city, and in Sunniside and High Street West. We do not plan to make any changes to the use of the building but will look to drive investment that will regenerate its ground floor, creating a vibrant high street that complements the transformation under way on the doorstep.

“We’re determined that Riverside Sunderland is a stimulus for a whole-city-centre regeneration and that we connect surrounding areas into it.”