Dudley high street shopping parade on sale for £1.5m
A shopping parade in Dudley town centre has gone on the market for £1.5 million in a bid to kick-start a development creating more than 30 flats.
A building featuring shops near St Thomas’s Church and the war memorial could be turned into flats.
The 1,000 sq ft site features shops on High Street which form part of a larger building backing onto King Street.
Planning permission has already been granted for 33 flats on the second floor but the development has yet to get off the ground.
The flats plan could now be resurrected if a buyer for the site can be found.
It is hoped developers will be attracted to the site due to its prominent town centre location.
The shops, which include the Premier store, would remain if a takeover is completed, with space above and behind on King Street to be developed.
Ward councillor Khurshid Ahmed, a former regeneration boss at the borough council, said he was hopeful a sale would go through to enable the development to finally get started.
He said: “We want to have more residential developments in the town centre to support local businesses. If people are living in the vicinity you would expect them to go and use the shops.
“Now it is for sale, hopefully we will be able to get a developer in to get this up and running
“I welcome this opportunity to develop part of the town centre. We want to see the changes as soon as possible.”
Under the original plans, the building would be converted into 10 two-bedroom flats, 20 one-bedroom flats and three studio apartments.
The block would undergo changes to give it a more modern look, including the installation of new windows and doors.
At the time, Dudley Council said the proposed development would contribute to ‘the regeneration and vitality of this part of the town centre’.
The current building consists of a two-storey building with a sloped roof on the High Street, which merges into a three storey flat-roofed building looking onto Kings Street which features a car park.
If the plans are progressed it would be the latest development scheme earmarked for the town centre.
Long-awaited plans to demolish the Cavendish House office block, paving the way for a multi-million pound retail and residential development, were lodged last month.
The derelict building, which overlooks Duncan Edwards Way, is considered one of Dudley’s biggest eyesores.
