Will York's Club Salvation finally become flats?

The application to City of York Council concerns Club Salvation in George Hudson Street and Tanner Row. Planning approval granted three years ago for the site is about to expire.

McMillan York Ltd seeks to convert the first, second and third floor and a roof level extension to create 17 serviced apartments.

The ground floor and basement would become a restaurant, and there would be some accommodation space and amenity space, in the resubmitted plans.

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The ground floor at 27 and 29 George Hudson Street would remain as shops.

The planning application said: “The proposals have been designed to create commercial space at ground floor, and serviced apartments on upper levels. The site will provide much needed quality accommodation and employment.”

The site on the corner of George Hudson Street and Tanner Row is in the York Central Historic Conservation Area. It was built in the Victorian era as a five-storey hotel known as the Great Northern Hotel. Higher floors were removed in the 1960s and it became the County Hotel and later a nightclub, becoming Club Salvation in 2008.

The application says the shops at 27 and 29 George Hudson Street will remain, with the upper floors becoming serviced apartments.

At 23 Tanner Row, the scale of the building will increase by re-instating the two levels that were removed in the 1960s. This “restores the proportions of the original hotel, and no longer looks as though it has been chopped off.”

Picture by Frank Dwyer (Image: Picture by Frank Dwyer)

If approved, all access points will remain as now. There would be no car parking provided, as shops and services are nearby. Serviced apartments need not provide cycling racks, but they too exist nearby.

The application added the scheme “provides a prime opportunity to enhance the group of 19th century buildings that enclose the street and create the streetscape.”

“Also, removing the nightclub use will improve the area by creating a restaurant with an active frontage and strong sense of presence at street level for both residents and visitors.”

“Local character is preserved and enhanced. Refurbishment will provide better use of energy.”

The proposed submittal has previously been vetted by the city council’s Design Conservation and Sustainable Development team, “who now support these changes.”

The application concluded: “The proposal creates a scheme which address the character of the site and its surroundings, by returning the building at the corner of George Hudson Street and Tanner Row to its original massing and design. It provides a sympathetic development that enhances the conservation area. The development leads to an efficient use of previously developed land within a sustainable location for uses compatible with the surrounding area.”From the planning application (Image: From the planning application)