Colin James Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 A planning application has now been submitted for a proposed conversion of retail units into 17 dwelling flats. Former Chadds building Commercial Street Hereford. The proposal seeks planning permission for the residential development of 17no. apartments, over 3 floors, with a new dedicated ground floor entrance, together with the rationalisation of the existing ground floor retail unit. The Proposal Although not of high architectural significance the character of the existing buildings is extremely well suited to its location. Rather than demolish and replace the buildings therefore a strategy has been adopted to convert and refurbish the existing property to contribute to the long term desire to revitalise of the area. The lack of retail or commercial interest in the building over a number of years confirms that it is no longer suitable for similar use on its existing scale. Realistically this is the case for much of Commercial Street. Failure to address this would see the building continue to be unoccupied for a prolonged period of time further negatively impacting on the character of the area. To assist in the re-invigoration the proposals aim to provide 17 self-contained apartments within the upper 3 storeys of the building. In effect this will bring people to the heart of the area facilitating increased footfall to the benefit of local business and enterprises. Additionally it may allow the ground floor retail element of the existing property to potentially be offered as smaller scale units more suited the location making this far more attractive to potential retail tenants and business owners ultimately making it increasingly likely that this will help spur occupancy and therefore start to again create a vibrancy to the street. The new proposals will include the provision of two new dedicated entrances off Union Street to serve the residential apartments. The most northerly existing ground floor entrance along Commercial Street will also be utilised likewise. These will provide direct access to stairs which lead to the upper floors of the building. The Apartments will be distributed as follows: First Floor Second Floor Third Floor - 6no one bedroom apartments. - 2no two bedroom apartments - 4no one bedroom apartments. - 3no two bedroom apartments - 1no one bedroom apartments. - 1no two bedroom apartments Each apartment will also contain a living dining kitchen together with a bathroom. All residencies will be of contemporary design and be of high quality standard and finish. New replacement windows will be provided to all existing openings to ensure they meet current regulation performance requirements. Two new window openings will be created for one apartment at second floor level but neither of these will be street facing. New Velux windows will also be provided to habitable rooms at third floor level. All dwellings are designed to comply with DCLG space standards. The Ground Floor will be largely otherwise unaltered until such time an interested purchaser or tenant is attracted to develop the reduced size units. - Planning application P173885/F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SON OF GRIDKNOCKER Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 "The lack of commercial interest...over a number of years..." is estate agent weaselspeak for: "we just couldn't be arsed to go out and find a High Street name that was willing to take the building on. We stuck our board up (with our Birmingham phone number on it) but nobody contacted us." Plonking a 17-unit residential block (if the Planning Committee rolls over to have its tummy tickled) alongside a lively city centre disco-pub seems to me to be social engineering gone mad. But then most council planners are head-bangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted October 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 I have submitted a note to this application as follows: I have no real objection to the overall application for the apartments however, I do think that the retail units MUST be addressed before any planning is permitted for the upper floors. In other words, I think a clause should be made to make good the retail units on the ground floor in the first instance, otherwise we will still have empty shops looking tatty with new builds above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Thomas Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 "The lack of commercial interest...over a number of years..." is estate agent weaselspeak for: "we just couldn't be arsed to go out and find a High Street name that was willing to take the building on. We stuck our board up (with our Birmingham phone number on it) but nobody contacted us." Plonking a 17-unit residential block (if the Planning Committee rolls over to have its tummy tickled) alongside a lively city centre disco-pub seems to me to be social engineering gone mad. But then most council planners are head-bangers. I replied on the HV Facebook page with my comments: It is good to see that if planning is passed that the old building is finally being used again however, how long will it be before the NEW residents of these flats start complaining about the noise from pubs and clubs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragwert Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Retail units on ground floor must be implemented in the re construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted November 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2017 Retail units on ground floor must be implemented in the re construction. That is a must! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragwert Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Work has started on converting the upper floors into flats.The ground floor will be converted into three separate retail units. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragwert Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 Some great news at last for the former Chadds store. The ground floor was converted into three separate units and two have now been let No 41 & 42. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aylestone Voice Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 We can all only marvel at the speed at which the new owner converted the upper floors to flats and the ground floor to shops. In the same vein it is great to see the progress up in High Town (if only the developers here here years ago) If anyone from the Council reads this - the lesson is have a plan and GET ON WITH IT. Don't wait years debating it and spending money for no good end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 5 hours ago, ragwert said: Some great news at last for the former Chadds store. The ground floor was converted into three separate units and two have now been let No 41 & 42. Who do we know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragwert Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 22 minutes ago, Mick said: Who do we know? No.Hopefully not another Restaurant or coffee shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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