THE multimillion-pound rebirth of a riverside landmark in York has seen a new walkway installed to provide its new residents with an escape route if serious floods strike.

The Bonding Warehouse is being converted into four apartments and office space through a scheme led by York developers Grantside, whose own headquarters will on the ground floor of the site, after more than a decade of lying empty.

Part of the scheme includes a private bridge linking the Grade II listed building to Skeldergate due to the flood risk posed by the River Ouse, which is now in place.

The project is on schedule and the two and three-bedroom apartments will be completed in May.

Two of the apartments will be housed within a new roof space at the east end of the site, with a pair of duplex homes based in new upper floors at the western end.

The ground and first floors of the Victorian building will be office accommodation, with Grantside’s planning permission – secured last year – also allowing a restaurant to open there.

The whole site covers 7,000 sq ft, with prices for the apartments starting at £625,000 and one selling for £1 million.

DHP Croft, which is marketing the properties, said interest had been “phenomenal”, with more than 150 inquiries made and sales being agreed. Construction work is being carried out by Lindum York.

The Bonding Warehouse was a pub, restaurant and music venue before closing in 2000 after serious floods, after which it did not reopen until Grantside bought the site for an undisclosed sum in 2012.

It was once earmarked by City of York Council as a potential base for a digital media and cultural centre, but this idea was dropped as alternative sites were sought for this use.