Period office building to be turned into flats
The offices of a Nottingham video production company look set to be turned into apartments following a sale brokered by commercial property consultancy Innes England.
RNB Developments has bought 1, First Avenue off Sherwood Rise with plans to turn the three-storey property into four apartments. The firm is working in partnership with Nottingham-based investors and developers DPPH who will project manage the conversion.
The villas in the area were some of the first houses to be built north of The Forest Recreation Ground as Nottingham expanded after the Enclosure Act of 1845. 1 First Avenue, Sherwood Rise, was the family home of city photographer George Pendry from 1911 until his death in 1940.
The period property has housed a number of Nottingham’s creative agencies since it was converted to office space in the late 1980s. It was sold on behalf of Ian Sterling and Sally Reynolds who have run their successful business VPoint TV from the premises since 1998.
Reynolds said: “When we first moved to the building, we needed space for filming and audio recording and rooms to host clients. In line with the times, we’re now more of a digital agency and work remotely a lot of the time. The building is just too big, so we decided to sell it and move somewhere more suitable.
“We went on the market and then the lockdown happened. We are amazed that Ross was able to sell it for us. He has done a fantastic job in difficult circumstances and we’re delighted.
Ross Whiting, business space surveyor at Innes England said: “We are receiving more enquiries from clients about former office properties that could be suitable for residential development.
“Conversion to residential units is particularly successful in an area that’s well connected to local transport and other amenities, as First Avenue is. Interest in this property was high, showing that the market for this type of property continues to be strong – even in the light of COVID 19.”
Peter Richardson, director at DPPH said: “This will be our third conversion project in this area of Nottingham, which has a number of suitable properties that were once large Victorian homes. We are planning four superb, two-bedroom apartments which will appeal to young professionals.”
