Disused Wolverhampton offices to become bedsits
Disused offices that have lain empty in Wolverhampton city centre for several years are set to be converted into a block of bedsits.
Wolverhampton Council planning officers have given the thumbs up to the proposal put forward by applicants AAJ Property Management to convert the Grade II-listed building on Queen Street.
The building is said to be starting to fall into disrepair and the fairly small size and lack of parking facilities are given as reasons for why it is unattractive for office-based businesses.
The new facility will consist of nine self-contained bedsits with students coming to the city university amongst the targeted tenants.
A previous application featured seven self-contained bedsits and two with shared facilities but this has now been amended and approved.
The application said: “The current condition of the building is dated and below average.
“There are signs that deterioration of the building is beginning to worsen.
“As time has passed there have been some alterations internally to the building. However that said there is also a lot of features which have been retained.
“All floors of the building are currently unoccupied and have been unoccupied for quite some time.
“Consideration needs to be given to this unoccupied building eliminating the waste of floor space within the city centre and the condition that this unused Grade II-listed building will end up in if not used and better use of this space being made by changing its usage.”
It added: “Due to the lack of facilities that the building has to offer as an office and the general run down condition, it is going to be very difficult to let.
“With all of this in mind, the owners feel that an ideal use for the building would to be a conversion to residential status, in the form of a house of multiply occupation.
“This would introduce new tenants, the majority of these would be either students or professionals working in the city centre, both of which often do not have cars.”
