Dozens of apartments could be created within Preston’s Miller Arcade as part of a major redevelopment of the historic city shopping precinct.
Plans have been unveiled which would see the vacant upper floors of the 19th-century premises brought back into use after years of standing empty.
A total of 46 properties are proposed across the top three storeys of the Grade II-listed building – bound by Church Street, Lancaster Road, Birley Street and the Flag Market – along with communal facilities for residents.
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If the blueprint is approved, the retail units on the ground floor of the arcade – which became the first indoor shopping area in the city when it opened in 1899 – would continue to trade as normal.
The conversion proposal – by Darwen-based Icon Heritage Limited – comes 11 years after a similar vision put forward by a different company was given the nod by city planners. That scheme, unlike the current one, also featured a new restaurant and a roof garden – but was ultimately never delivered.
The plans now on the table are for 24 one-bed, 18 two-bed and four ‘studio’ flats whose occupiers would have shared access to a cinema, gym, library, workspace, meeting room, kitchen and lounge. Access would come via an existing doorway on Lancaster Road, beneath the existing gold-plated ‘Miller House’ sign.
The much-loved landmark is renowned for its Victorian Baroque architecture and was modelled on the larger Burlington Arcade in London.
The floors now earmarked for apartments once housed hotels, a Turkish Baths, a wine lodge and, most recently, offices.
According to documents lodged with Preston City Council, the only external alterations that would be required by the proposed conversion would be repairs to the building’s fabric and the refurbishment of its windows – which would also be upgraded with ‘secondary glazing’ to help block out noise and retain heat.
The necessary internal reconfiguration will take “a sensitive design approach that prioritises the retention of existing architectural features…which are considered heritage assets”, a planning statement explains.
It adds: “Introducing residential spaces into the building brings a new life – and the new use will help bring Miller Arcade back to becoming [of] even greater importance in Preston.”
The applicant sought advice from the city council before submitting their plans and was advised that the principle of the proposal was “wholly acceptable”.
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