Plans submitted for Hatton Garden Fire Station
MIDDLE England Developments has submitted a planning application to convert the Grade II-listed former Hatton Garden Fire Station site in Liverpool city centre into 93 student properties.
The Wirral-based developer is looking to convert 90 of the properties around 14 clusters as well as developing three self-contained flats within the ground floor of the former station’s tower. The development will also contain a manager’s office opposite the main building entrance, a gym and a cycle and refuse store.
Tracy Russell of Middle England Developments told TheBusinessDesk.com that the company acquired the building around six months ago after discovering that its former owner wanted to sell the building.
“The council was quite happy for us to bring it back into use and to fill it up,” she said.
The building had largely been empty for the past decade, save for a single floor which was used by the neighbouring Magistrate’s Court. However, it too has moved out of the building and a first floor bridge between the two properties has been severed.
It now plans to develop accommodation on all three of the upper floors as well as part of the ground floor. There is also space on the ground floor for five retail units and space in the basement which could be taken by a gym operator.
“This is a really nice building in a good location. It’s a great site and it ticks all the right boxes. It’s close to two buildings on the John Moores Campus and they love it,” she said. “They’re also very interested in Rodney St.”
As reported by TheBusinesDesk.com earlier this month, Liverpool City Council recently agreed a deal to sell the Grade II-listed Church of St Andrew on Rodney St to Middle England Developments for £1 and pledged to help with grant funding in order to bring the building back into life.
Middle England Developments began redeveloping historic buildings into student properties in Liverpool around two years ago.
It has already converted the former Streatlam Towers building and the former Arena House building on Duke St into student properties and Russell said that if approval is granted for its Hatton Garden Fire Station proposals, it intends to complete building work by the end of March 2011.
“We will start moving on it quite quickly,” she said, adding that recent conversion projects at Duke St and Bold St took just four months.
“This one will take a little longer because it has a few more units.”
Middle England Developments typically sells most of the properties it develops to investors and manages the buildings on their behalf. She said that projects developed thus far have tended to sell out “within a couple of weeks”.
“It’s a really viable investment and provides better returns than a typical buy-to-let property,” she added.
Planning documents state that the company consulted with more than 200 neighbouring property owners and occupiers and received one objection to the scheme from a local resident concerned about behavioural problems caused by the arrival of more students in the area.
Planning officers are recommending that the city council’s planning committee approves the application at its meeting next Tuesday, September 6, subject to certain conditions.
A report prepared for the committee states that the type of housing proposed meets an identified need and is in keeping with nearby developments.
“This innovative development proposal will make efficient and sensitive reuse of a fine, Grade II-listed building and therefore make a valuable contribution to this part of the city centre,” it states.
