Councillor says apartments plan for Beatties building lacks 'imagination'

Plans to turn Wolverhampton’s historic Beatties building and car park into more than 300 apartments lack imagination, a councillor has said.

The landmark Beatties store could be turned into apartments

Councillor Dr Paul Birch said he wished the store would have been turned into a four-star hotel which could boost the city’s night-life and economy.

Other councillors have praised the plans – which will see the site transformed into retail units and 306 apartments – after they were backed last week.

Councillor Birch, a member of the Stronger City Economy Scrutiny Panel, said: “It would be good to have a city centre hotel; after all, we’ve got parking, we’ve got facilities like the Civic Centre, and we’ve got restaurants.

The new resedential levels on the Beatties building. Photo: SYSS Beatties Limited

"With hotels come the ability to attract people to come into the city to develop the night-time economy. We badly need that night-time economy to be developed, and this is the way to do it.

"I think Wolverhampton Council are failing to learn lessons that other cities have learnt and have invested successfully. There are very many cities that have demonstrated how they have brought people into the city centre.

"I think we have lacked imagination and if we look to what happened in Birmingham 30 years ago, if you went to an event there was only one main hotel and it was only after Birmingham Council invested in that hotel in Broad Street and because of that other hotels came in to compete, and that’s what we need to do with the city of Wolverhampton.

A CGI mock-up of new levels to the building viewed from Skinner Street. Photo: SSYS Beatties Limited

"There are four star hotels surrounding the city, but no four star hotels in the city and that’s highly regrettable because I think it would bring significant investment."

The redevelopment, which takes place in the city centre’s conservation area, will see the upper floors converted into apartments, with additional floors to be built on top of the building.

The ground floor will be kept as retail space and the shop frontage will be kept and restored, with work carried out sensitively, under proposals put forward by SSYS Beatties Limited.

Drawings of how Beatties will look if the proposals are backed. Photo: SYSS Beatties Limited

The Beatties store was opened by John Beattie in 1877. House of Fraser took it over in 2005. It was put on the market in 2019, and private investors paid £3 million for the historic building last February.

Councillor Wendy Thompson, Councillor for Tettenhall Wightwick said: "I think with such a large prominent building, it would be very dismal if we had a building that was left empty for any length of time, so it’s really pleasing to know that the plan is going through and for work to go ahead.

"We can get people living again properly in the city centre, and still have some retail shopping available as well is really important. We get a bit of vibrancy back, because we really need it in Wolverhampton - we want to see some activity and people returning to the shops."

The front of the landmark Beatties building in Victoria Street, Wolverhampton

Councillor Roger Lawrence, former leader of Wolverhampton Council, said he hopes there are a variety of homes and there will be demand for property.

He said: "I think when we have buildings that need to be re-purposed, residential is one of the least controversial. The only concern I might have is about a lot of buildings coming onto the market all at the same time, is the demand there? That’s why I hope that there are a variety of provisions, and not just relatively small properties."

Report by Alfie Thomas