Flats plan for York city centre office space

The developers behind the conversion of several empty office blocks at Clifton Moor are now eyeing office space above a bank on a busy city centre street.

A planning application made by the Helmsley Group shows it wants to convert three storeys of office space above the Bank of Scotland on Nessgate into 16 small flats.

The company is behind the Halo development on the edge of York, which has seen several late 20th century office buildings on Clifton Moor business park converted into apartments.

A planning statement prepared for the applications says the 880 square metres of office space - over the first, second and third floors - could house 16 flats of between 30 and 54 square metres each.

The entrance to the new homes would be off King Street, behind the existing Bank of Scotland, with a small amount of ground floor space set aside for bin and bike storage.

The planning documents say the scheme would help meet an identified need for housing land in York, in a sustainable location.

Elsewhere in the city centre, the owners of one shop have been given permission to convert the unit into a bar or restaurant, and owners of another are awaiting a decision on a similar application.

The old Herbert Brown shop on the corner of Jubbergate and Shambles Market has got planning permission to be converted into a bar or restaurant.

At the nearby former Monsoon Children shop, next door to Marks and Spencer on Parliament Street, the building's owners have asked for permission to convert it into either a restaurant, bar, takeaway or an office for financial or professional services.

According to a planning statement the shop, which has been empty since last month, has been marketed for rent since 2010 but no suitable tenant has been found.

The building's owners want a more flexible permission so their agents, Blacks Property Consultants, can market it more widely and find a new occupant, rather than leaving the prominent city centre space empty.