Planning submitted to transform empty offices at St James Place into flats

St James Place

Empty offices on Yorkshire Street, Rochdale, could be turned into self-contained flats.

A planning application to change St James Place, opposite the Ukrainian Catholic Church, into 21 one- and two-bedroom apartments has been submitted.

The building was sold by auction and has been empty for the past three years.

There are four main entrances at the front of the three-storey building, plus two fire exits at the rear, on Pagan Street. It also has enclosed ground floor car parking facilities with shutters.

The stairs will remain in between the flats which will be situated either side of the building. The internal rooms will be partitioned to provide a lounge, kitchen, bedroom(s) and bathroom with minor alterations to the main fabrication of the building.

It is hoped that changing St James’ Place into flats will help with the regeneration of Rochdale, due to its close proximity to the town centre.

A Crime Impact Statement by GMP has advised some minor changes to the application, including control of access to external spaces around the building and definition of site boundary; control of access within the buildings; and physical security.

Between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, there were a high number of offences recorded within 500m of the site: less serious wounding, theft and vehicle crime are the most typical crimes taking place.

GMP noted that these particular types of crime are “typically experienced” in town centres.