New shops and flats to replace 25-year eyesore property in Wolverhampton
A move that will see a ‘dilapidated’ eyesore shop left empty for 25 years turned into new shops and flats has been backed by a council.
The few last remaining parts of the dilapidated building in Worcester Street, Wolverhampton, will be replaced with a new shop and five flats as part of a planning application now approved by City of Wolverhampton Council.
A heritage report included with the application said the building was “structurally failed, roofless, and water-damaged.”
The plans by Shabana Latifi said the move would “restore a long-derelict building and remove an eyesore.” It was last used in 1999, according to the application.
A statement included with the plans said: “The property at 4 Worcester Street is located within a designated conservation area in Wolverhampton’s city centre.
“The building has been vacant and unused for approximately 25 years, resulting in severe structural failure — the interior has completely collapsed from the roof down to ground level, with only the front and rear elevations remaining.
“The proposal seeks to retain and restore the heritage front façade and rear elevation, reconstruct the internal structure to provide a ground-floor retail unit and high-quality accommodation above, reinstate architectural detailing to the front elevation in keeping with its historic character and maximise the use of the site by sensitively extending to the rear and providing a loft conversion.”
An application for a three-storey building with eight flats on the opposite side of Worcester Street was put forward a year ago but has yet to be decided by City of Wolverhampton Council.
If approved, the new flats would be built on a patch of land between Cleveland Street car park and the All Nations Christian Centre in Temple Street, behind Worcester Street’s Bains Supermarket.
City of Wolverhampton Council approved an application to convert the former Harmi Travels travel agent in Worcester Street into new shops and flats in May.
