The latest plan to convert Windsor House, near Valley Gardens, into 94 flats has been approved by Harrogate Borough Council.
There have been several similar applications to convert the office block on Cornwall Road in recent years.
In 2014 the council approved an application from landlord Boultbee Brooks to convert the building to housing under permitted development rights.
However, a condition was attached that said the conversion must be completed within three years.
When the 2014 application lapsed, the landlord submitted another application in 2017, which was again passed.
Three years later in 2020, with building work still yet to begin, a new application was submitted but this time it was refused because the council said some rooms would have inadequate natural light.
Revised plans in March that dealt with the lack of light have been accepted by council planning officer Mike Parkes.
First introduced in 2013 as a way to mitigate the UK’s housing shortage, office-to-residential permitted development rights make it easier for owners of office blocks to convert them into homes.
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Last year, the Windsor House application received an objection from a tenant of the building, who said the conversion would “drive businesses out of Harrogate”.
The objection said:
“It took us months to find office space in Harrogate within a reasonable walking distance of town. Please think of business in Harrogate, it can’t all be about residential. We need places to work too, Harrogate needs commercial business.”
Windsor House, which is located in the Duchy estate area, is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Harrogate.
Built in 1900 overlooking Valley Gardens, it was originally the Grand Hotel and became offices in the 1980s.
The Stray Ferret contacted Savills, the agent acting on behalf of Boultbee Brooks, to ask if it planned to start work on the conversion within the next three years but we did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
