Project Overview
Bell Cornwell has secured planning permission for the conversion and redevelopment of a historic warehouse and office building to residential use in St George, Bristol on behalf of Christian Grant Properties Ltd. The scheme will provide market housing in a highly desirable urban location.
The development, which will be known as The Boot Factory (due to its historic use) will see the delivery of 26 open market apartments, provided through a mixture of new build development and the conversion of this historic building. The site is in a densely populated residential area with associated constraints typically found within inner city locations. The building was last used as a mixture of warehouse and offices.
We were asked to devise the planning strategy for this project. This included progressing the scheme on the basis that our client would benefit from the Vacant Building Credit, an incentive set out in Government guidance which enables developers to gain a discount against their Affordable Housing calculation where vacant floor space is being brought back into use or demolished. This can significantly reduce the overall burden of this obligation on the scheme and improve viability. It is an opportunity which all clients should consider when looking at housing regeneration projects on brownfield sites.
Bell Cornwell successfully led discussions on this politically sensitive issue and acted as planning agent throughout the project.
The new development offers the following benefits:
The scheme is one that Bell Cornwell are very proud to have worked on as the development will secure the urban regeneration of an attractive building and provide much needed high quality housing for a range of prospective purchasers including first time buyers and small families.
