With the appointment of Vinci as the contractor for the second phase of the Northgate development , I was given access of the old Market to document the site for Cheshire Archives. The building was in use from 1967- 2022. Most of the internal fixtures and fittings had been removed but the remains of many previous traders could be seen.
The Council has appointed a partner for Northgate Phase 2 and expects to consult on the plans during 2026. See more:
The Chester blog 
Such a shame – some very long-lived businesses that didn’t fit the hipster East London style the council wanted for the new ‘market’. The couple that have made a brave go of paying commercial rents in Chester are absolute outliers. No reason Chester couldn’t have both a crowded food court AND a market, but the council didn’t feel that way.
People did not support the market traders. That’s why things changed
The market was usually empty, food halls popular
It had been in terminal decline for 20 years
You’d allow that a great deal of that was purposefully driven by the council ? They ran the building down, messed the public transport links around, were forever interfering with the trader’s operations (and rents of course) – and above all they wanted it gone as they wanted (and want) to sell the land off for redevelopment, and that type of market just didn’t fit their (no doubt well-funded) vision.
Any number of traders would have told you at the time (and did tell other media) that the council told them that they weren’t getting spaces in the new market as they didn’t fit the ‘feeling’ of the space.
I’m not anti what they’ve built, I’m sure it’s making someone a lot of money (the traders are utterly fleeced for rent of course) – I just don’t accept that both couldn’t co-exist in practical terms.