Despite Newcastle facing the “challenge” of dwindling office space, yet another abandoned city centre office block has been added to a clutch of buildings about to receive a residential makeover.
Aidan House — once the Tyneside headquarters of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs — has lain empty since 2010. Efforts to rent or sell the Pilgrim Street block have all failed.
Now Aidan House Developments Ltd, launched earlier this year by London-based developers Julian Mercer and Paul Pheysey, has offered to buy the building for around £3m as long as it gets change of use permission. The pair have submitted plans to convert the five-storey building into 139 studio apartments, the Newcastle Chronicle reports.
In May, 2013, the Government relaxed permitted development rights to allow offices to be converted to homes without the need for planning permission. The legislation has several restrictions, including an end of May, 2016, cut off. It’s this deadline which many regional commercial specialists feel is forcing the charge toward converting Tyneside’s neglected office blocks into homes and hotels.
Earlier this year the former Baron House serviced offices reopened as the Hampton by Hilton Hotel close to Newcastle central station, and Eagle Star House on Fenkle Street now operates as the Indigo Hotel.
Work is already underway to convert Newcastle’s historic Turk’s Head Hotel in Grey Street — until recently occupied by Barclays Bank — into a 116-bed student hall of residence.
And Fortis Developments is spending £7.5m transforming 30,000 sq ft of former offices at Burgess House on St James’ Boulevard into 110 studio rooms serviced by entertainment and communal facilities.
Newcastle city planners are also expected to approve a scheme to allow the conversion of empty Quayside offices at Princes Buildings on Queen’s Street. Flagstaff 2 want to turn the upper floors of the Grade II listed building into 10 luxury apartments.
“The supply of new Grade A space is still one of the biggest challenges facing the city,” commented Chris Dent, of DTZ’s Newcastle office agency team.
“Just two new office developments are currently on site; the 35,000 sq ft Rocket at the Stephenson Quarter and the 14,000 sq ft that Liveworks is about to complete on the Quayside.
“If the current levels of take-up continues, with the same number of office buildings being lost, there will be a significant shortage of supply in the latter half of 2015,” he added.
Previous Post
Clearbell snaps up two Mixed-Use Portfolios
