Apartments plan for Hawthorns House near West Brom ground
A landmark office block in West Bromwich is set to be turned into more than 100 flats.
Plans have been lodged for Hawthorns House, near the football ground bearing the same name.
The large office building towers over Halfords Lane and has been eyed up for residential development.
An application has been lodged with Sandwell Council by Samsons Ltd to change the use of the building from offices to a total of 105 flats.
It comes after the block, which has been used by the NHS, charities and other companies over the years, was sold for £2.7 million to a private investor in November.
Parking spaces at the office block will remain to be used by tenants, if the plans go ahead.
The building is next to the junction with Halfords Park, less than half a mile from the A41 Birmingham Road and close to Junction 1 of the M5 motorway, while The Hawthorns Railway Station is just a short walk away.
The proposals will now be scrutinised by planning officers before a decision is made in the coming months.
Ward councillor Zahoor Ahmed believes the development would provide a boost for the area.
He said: "Any new accommodation would be welcome and it would lead to the regeneration of a prominent building.
"Hopefully it will go ahead but it all depends on the planning department."
It is the latest historic building in the town to be put forward for conversion after similar plans were revealed for the former West Bromwich Building Society base on High Street last year.
Bosses at Samsons said they were hopeful the development would be allowed to go ahead as they said it would not lead to a major increase in traffic, due to the parking provided.
A planning document said: "It is not considered that the proposed change of use of this office building to residential units is likely to have a material increase change in the character of traffic in the vicinity due to 200 spaces on site.
"The site is situated in a highly-sustainable transport location. Hawthorns train station is 0.2 miles from the property which is approximately five minutes via walking and two minutes by cycle."
