A landmark building on the corner of a busy Preston junction could soon be built – along with a new place of worship.
Preston City Mission, at where Ringway and Corporation Street meet, is to be demolished and in its place an eight-storey block of flats, shops and a revamped new Mission.
The Mission’s car park would also be built on to make space for the 78 one and two-bedroom flats.
Stride Treglown have tabled the plans on behalf of Hollinwood Homes.
Proposals for the site date back to 2010 when plans for 73 student flats over 13 storeys were approved but were never built due to the economic downturn.
The current Mission single-storey building sits next to a derelict building on the site, developers say it is ‘out of scale and context with the current city centre uses’.
Read more: City Mission applies for longer term use of its car park
A consultation event has taken place during August and September at the Mission for the congregation to view the plans .
A statement from Stride Treglown said: “The applicant, Hollinwood Homes, has committed to providing the Mission with a new worship and outreach facility on the site and has now submitted a new application proposing an 8-storey building with ground floor retail food and drink use and residential accommodation for private rental.
“The viability appraisal demonstrates that the proposal is not viable on a commercial basis but the applicant wants to move ahead to fulfil the commitment that it made some years ago to build a new centre for the Mission. Given that the cost of this element of the scheme falls to the developer, the provision of affordable housing would not be achievable.
“The scale and massing of the development is more suited to its context than the larger building previously proposed, and fits comfortably next to the Premier Inn that has been built since the previous unimplemented planning permission on the site.
“The dark red brick and rhythm of the elevations produces a scheme of high quality and will enhance the courtyard to the Premier Inn.”
Read more: Consultants retained by Preston Council to aid city centre redevelopment
Full proposals can be seen on the city council website and comments on the planning application left there
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