Plans to create 120 new apartments in the heart of Hull have been given the go-ahead.
Wilberforce Court, in Alfred Gelder Street, is currently one of Hull’s biggest office complexes, but now looks set to become the latest in a surge of city centre living accommodation.
Hull City Councillors have given the green light to proposals to change the use of Wilberforce Court, opposite The White Hart pub, into 120 flats.
A planning statement submitted by DLP Planning on behalf of Empire Property Concepts, said: “The development comprises a mix of one bedroom and two bedroom units.
“The application for prior notification includes all of the ground floor, second floor and third floor, but excludes a portion of the first floor.
“Prior approval is not sought to change the use of the portion of the first floor currently occupied by HMCTS (Hull’s Employment Tribunal) as this is subject to a separate approval…”
Plans said future residents at Wilberforce Court would have access to a minimum of 49 parking spaces.
Built in 1990, the four-storey office block stands at the junction of Alfred Gelder Street and Gandhi Way.
The development is the latest in a series of residential conversion schemes across the city centre involving former office blocks.
They include the K2 scheme in Bond Street, the former divisional police headquarters building overlooking Queens Gardens and Liberty House in High Street.
Applicants said: “The site is located within Hull city centre, and is within easy walking distance of a range of shops, services and public transport infrastructure.
Developer Empire Property Concepts is also behind plans to transform Tivoli House – a 1960s office building – into over 50 flats.
Elsewhere in the city centre, plans are in place to build 58 new apartments in currently disused office space above Prospect Centre.
The building has been used as offices since it was built in the 1970s but it has recently lain empty.
In the covering letter, the applicant says: “The proposal will provide 33 studios, 21 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments.
“The proposed apartments would be provided over five floors and would be accessed via the existing entrance to the Prospect Centre from Prospect Street.”
