YOU can’t get more NQ than the Smithfield Building.

It’s one of the icons of the area. Originally the Affleck and Brown department store it was converted by Urban Splash in 1996 into 81 apartments and 18 years on it still offers some of the best spaces in the neighbourhood.

The entrance is on Tib Street, a huge but discreet door giving way to an unexpected world of wooden walkways, steel columns, giant plants and pebbled courtyards.

This apartment on the top floor is your classic loft with three big industrial windows, bare brick walls and a vast vaulted living space topped with lovely old beams.

It looks out over Church Street car park, which personally I think is a great thing especially as you get discounted parking as a resident and direct access across a security coded walkway I never knew existed.

The details describe it as a two bedder but really it’s a super sized one bed with a mezzanine level which could be used to accommodate an office, a record collection or indeed the occasional overnight guests.

It is owned by a couple who went for what they thought was a six month stint in London but two years on the move has become permanent so the flat is for sale.

It’s been rented out during that time so it's a little jaded but with a bit of TLC this apartment could be stunning.

 And it's a sociable space. The good sized galley kitchen is half open looking down to the living area which can easily accommodate a dining table for eight or ten if Come Dine With Me is your thing.

The bedroom could be turned into a luxury retreat with some good storage and I would have a slick electric blind installed to black out the sky-light that's positioned directly over the bed space.

How cool would that be? Flick the switch to see the sky unfold above you.

The video boys loved this place, they loved the space and the light and the character and the fact that it’s just so independently Manc.

If you lived here you could by-pass Tesco completely. Buy your groceries at Superstore next door, your veg from the market stalls on Church Street, get your plants from Northern Flower, your vintage clothes from any corner shop, breakfast at Koffee Pot, lunch at the Soup Kitchen and afternoon tea at Sugar Junction.

Very, very, NQ.

Price: £239,950

Size: 1,200 sq ft

Service charge: £2,690

Interested? Or have you got an apartment to sell like this? Get in touch...