Plans have been submitted to convert the upper floors of a Grade II listed building in Harrogate into flats.
Five-storey Mercer House towers above the adjoining Mercer Art Gallery in the Harrogate Conservation Area on Swan Road.
Colston Trustees Limited have applied to Harrogate Borough Council to change the use of the site from offices to residential and create two flats.
According to planning documents submitted to the council, the office space has been redundant for over a year, which could leave the building susceptible to water ingress.
The ground floor and basement of Mercer House are occupied by Paul Lown-owned clothing store Prey Four and are not included in the plans.
Mercer House is historically and architecturally significant due to its gable-fronted, white and blue appearance.
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The application seeks to insert new doors, rooflights and an enlarged window. A design and access statement submitted as part of the proposal, says:
“Given the minor internal and external changes required to facilitate residential conversion at Mercer House, and the benefit to the long-term care and maintenance of having the upper floors in active use, this less than substantial harm is outweighed.”
It adds:
“The works, on balance, will both preserve and enhance the historic and architectural interests of Mercer House and special character of the Harrogate Conservation Area.”
Bid to turn former Harrogate post office into 25 flats and offices
Harrogate’s former post office could be radically transformed into a four-story building containing 25 flats plus offices.
Property development company One Acre Group has submitted plans on behalf of Post Office Ltd to Harrogate Borough Council to convert and extend the disused building on Cambridge Street.
If approved, the three-storey sandstone terraced building would be converted into a four-storey mixed use facility consisting of 25 one and two-bedroom flats and office space.
The post office controversially relocated to WH Smith last year amid claims by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones the service was being “downgraded”.
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A heritage report commissioned by One Acre Group describes the ex-post office, which was designed by architect Sir Henry Tanner and built at the turn of the last century, as an ‘unimposing building of little distinction’.
The report adds the building contributes ‘very little’ to the character and appearance of the Harrogate conservation area in which it is located, and would in fact provide ‘minor beneficial effects on the character and appearance’.
The report adds:
“The proposed development will secure high density residential development within a highly accessible location through the conversion and extension of an existing vacant building in easy access to a wide range of shops, services, job opportunities and public transport infrastructure.”
The application also seeks to demolish the building’s rear extension, car parking, refuse area and cycle parking.
One Acre Group, which is based in Harrogate, commissioned planning consultants ELG Planning, which has offices in Harrogate and Darlington, to draw up heritage and planning reports on the proposal for the council, which must now decide whether to approve the scheme.
If it does, work could start in the summer.