Hotel development set for former mill of liquidated yarn company
THE former site of a failed textiles company is set to be transformed into a hotel and residential development after it was acquired by property developers Prospect Estates.
The former home of Westwood Yarns in Holmfirth will be transformed into 50 residential units. The Millpond building will be transformed into a hotel and restaurant and the historic mill will be converted into 12 apartments.
Part of the offices will be leased to Oil Can Café and IK Classic Cars which are relocating from the Carding Shed, also in Holmfirth.
Administrators at KPMG were appointed to Westwood Yarns on 23 December 2015 and the following month, 94 of its 130 staff were made redundant. Owners Richard Collinge and Tim Kay paid £1m in cash for the business only two months before.
Chartered surveyor and property consultancy, Sanderson Weatherall, was appointed by KPMG to market the site in March 2016.
The property provides 168,551 sq ft of production workshops, offices and ancillary space set in an 8.54 acre site.
Earlier this year the majority of Westwood’s machinery and assets was sold off, raising around £1m.
Rob Cooke, regional acquisitions manager for Prospect Estates, said: “This is a historic and important site and we are keen to preserve as much of the original character of the mill as possible, whilst also attracting jobs and new residents to the area.
“The mixed use scheme we are proposing will retain around a third of the original floorplate, including the Millpond building and the Northern Lights workshops. We hope to begin work on site in early 2017, subject to planning permission.”
The sale of the former Westwood Yarns site to Prospect Estates was arranged by David Murray and Craig Watson from Sanderson Weatherall’s asset advisory team.
Craig Watson, associate partner at Sanderson Weatherall, said: “We received a significant level of interest in the site from a variety of regional and national investors and developers and we are very pleased to have successfully secured a sale on behalf of the administrators.
“Prospect Estates’ plans to redevelop the site will bring jobs and investment to Holmfirth, and we are confident that this will be a very successful venture that will provide a significant boost to the town.”
