An office block in Chatham town centre that has stood empty for more than a decade has been bought by Medway Council. The local authority announced today that it acquired Mountbatten House, which sits above the Pentagon Shopping Centre, for £1,975,000 as part of its ambitions to regenerate the town centre. Its own housing firm, Medway Development Company (MDC), was given the go-ahead in April this year to convert and extend the 12-storey building to accommodate 164 flats. A rooftop bar and restaurant with views across Medway will also be created. Dubbed an 'eyesore' by many local people, the concrete and brick façade of the 1970s building will be cleaned and restored to "enhance the character of the original design." As part of the redevelopment, 17 of the flats will be available as affordable shared ownership units with a further 24 units for affordable rent at a separate site. Work to demolish the old bus station ramps beside the office block has recently been completed, which will make way for a new public square with space for small restaurants, pop-up shops and market stalls. The old Pentagon bus station itself will become 147 car parking spaces for the new homes. Improvements to the existing taxi rank and entrances to the Pentagon Centre are also part of the plans. Construction work is set to begin next year and could cost around £30 million. Lyall Bills & Young and C.F. Møller, the architects who drew up the proposals for MDC, are now preparing detailed designs and surveys. Cllr Adrian Gulvin, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for resources and a director at MDC, said: “We have an ambitious vision for Medway and this exciting project will further transform Medway’s city centre. "We are committed to continuing to transform Chatham into a vibrant place to live, work, eat and shop. "The investment in Mountbatten House continues to demonstrate that we are also committed to shaping the future of our town centres to boost the local economy and provide more opportunities for residents and businesses." Medway Council first revealed its intentions to snap up the empty office block in 2019, when it emerged that the previous owner Mapeley Gamma did not wish to sell it to the Council.
In turn, the Council agreed to pursue a process known as a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the building. It was said at the time that the expected cost of obtaining a CPO may amount to at least £250,000 - although £6m were committed from the initial £45m budget towards its purchase of the Pentagon Shopping Centre in April 2019. The Council bought the shopping centre for nearly £35m instead. Mountbatten House - originally known as Pentagon House - was built in April 1975 as a custom-made office building for Lloyds Bank. The architects were Lister, Drew & Associates and the main building contractor was John Laing Construction Ltd. Over the years it became home to other large, national banking groups such as Scottish Widows and Black Horse Financial until it became vacant in 2008. An application by Mapeley Gamma to convert the empty offices into 112 apartments was approved in 2018 - however, this did not come to fruition.
Melanie
10/11/2021 21:01:44
I’ve always lived I. Medway and am concerned as to what is happening to the town Comments are closed.
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