UK: Plans to convert a historic site in Southport into an aparthotel have been revealed.
The three-storey building at 479-481 Lord Street dates back to 1877. The bottom two floors are currently used as retail space, with the top storey currently vacant.
The plans propose retaining the retail use on the ground floor and converting the first and second floors into apartments.
A planning application submitted to Sefton Council said: “The upper floors of the property are under-used and are beginning to physically deteriorate. Previous internal re-modelling for retail uses has resulted in the probable loss of many of the original historical assets. The current deterioration is independent of the Ground floor use, so a new use of the upper floors needs to be found to ensure the main asset and reason for listing can be preserved and maintained in the future.
It continued: “The conversion of the upper floor areas to residential use has been identified as the optimum viable long term use, giving a sustainable redevelopment. The additional accommodation provided within the partial new third floor ensures the overall project is commercially viable at this stage and ensures sufficient revenue to allow ongoing and future maintenance of the overall building fabric.”</p
