Apartment plans above town centre shop given go ahead

Plans to convert space above a town centre shop into apartments has been given the go ahead.

In January 2018 Wrexham.com reported that an application had been submitted to Wrexham Council proposing that the first and second floor above 14-16 Regent Street were converted into seven apartments.

The ground floor is allocated as for retail use, however the space on the first and second floors of the building are described as being unused and “no longer required to serve” the shop.

The ground floor retail space will be unaffected by the proposals, with the application’s design and access statement explaining that the shop will be refurbished and refitted as part of the redevelopment. It will then be “re-let on completion to a fashion retailer who specialised in designer fashions”.

However in March a revised application proposing the first and second floors are converted into four apartments, rather than the initial seven, were submitted to Wrexham Council.

As part of the application there would be minor alterations to the ground floor retail space in order to provide a self-contained internal staircase to the first and second floor levels to serve the proposed apartments.

Externally there would also be replacements made to “defective slated roof coverings” and the repair of the “existing masonry to the front elevation to Regent Street”.

Details provided in the application’s design and access statement say: “The proposed development with constitutes the change of use of redundant and unnecessary space at first and second floor levels, will utilise space which is not required to support the retail use at ground level.

“The change of use and the resultant rental income will have the benefit of reducing the rent required from the ground floor retail space to make the whole building viable, thereby stimulating the re-use of the retail space and creating employment, further enhancing the vitality and viability of the town centre.”

These have since been approved via a delegated decision by the head of environment and planning.