Wolverhampton Beatties building to become apartments as transformation approved
Wolverhampton's historic Beatties store and car park will be transformed into more than 300 flats after the plans were backed by council chiefs.
Proposals were put forward by SSYS Beatties Limited to planning bosses at Wolverhampton Council for 306 apartments in December last year.
It will see the upper-part of the building at the rear converted into the apartments, while the lower part of the building will be kept for retail purposes.
Additional residential floors will be built on the existing building but the shop frontage will be retained and restored, with building work carried out "sensitively".
A spokesman for SSYS Beatties said: "We are pleased that the city council have dealt with the planning application in a timely and positive manner."
A plan is set to be delivered to Wolverhampton Council to detail each phase of the project. It will start with the remaining internal fabric of the building, which isn't required, torn out.
Chiefs hope the move will be completed by autumn – with a main demolition contractor and a build contractor appointed by the end of the year, when work is projected to start on the site.
SSYS Beatties said it will be looking for support from the West Midlands Combined Authority and it will be making an application for the forthcoming financial year.
Councillor Stephen Simkins, cabinet member for city economy, said: "The granting of planning approval is a significant step towards bringing back to life this iconic building at the very heart of our city centre.
"We will continue to work with the owners to support them with this scheme that will deliver new homes and jobs – and fits with how we are reimagining our city centre to increase footfall through urban living.
"The application demonstrates that confidence to invest in Wolverhampton remains high and projects such as this are critical to relighting our city in our recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic."
The Victorian building was bought for £3 million last year and sources at the time told the Express & Star it could be converted into apartments.
It came after high street giant House of Fraser announced it would leave its Beatties home for the Mander Centre and form part of a new Frasers store in the city.
The famous Beatties name has been synonymous with Wolverhampton since the shop was launched by James Beattie in 1877. It was taken over by House of Fraser in 2005 but the Beatties name remained on the building and many shoppers continued to refer to it under its historic name.
