Conversion to flats at town’s ugliest building
Vacant offices at Pavilion House can be turned into flats
A town centre office building in Scarborough can be turned into flats after it was confirmed that a change of use for the site was not required. Empire Property Concepts Ltd is to convert the upper three floors of Pavilion House in Valley Bridge Road into 55 one and two-bedroom flats.
Planning permission had previously been granted by Scarborough Council in 2019 for 43 flats to be built in the vacant office block.
The company had applied to Scarborough Council for a change of use once more for the building to allow it to up the number of flats, but the authority has now confirmed that the new application is not required. The lower floor of the building, which is home to retail units, including Sports Direct, will not be affected by the flats scheme.
In the planning application the applicant stated that as the building has no on-site parking available– a nearby car park is not in the ownership of the applicant – it is hoped residents will make use of public transport instead.
Many people consider Pavilion House, with its concrete and glass exterior, to be the ugliest building in Scarborough. It stands on the site of the five-storey Pavilion Hotel, built in 1870 and demolished
in 1973.
The application stated: “The application site is located within Scarborough Town Centre, which provides a variety of shops, services and public transport infrastructure.
“Several bus stops are located under 100m away on Westborough Road and York Place with direct and regular access to local connections.
“The application site is also within 150m of Scarborough Train Station which provides national and regional
connections including York, Leeds, Sheffield, London and Manchester. As such, the site is highly accessible and sustainably located with future residents having access to an alternative means of transport other than the car.
“Secure bin and cycle storage to serve the proposed development can be accommodated off-street and will not impact on the highways in this respect.”
The conversion can now proceed.