Approval recommended for office building conversion

The proposed conversion of a Rotherham office building to create more than 100 new flats looks set to be granted planning permission when it goes before councillors tomorrow (4 April 2019).The Investment Room, supported by JR Planning Consultants, lodged plans with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in November 2018 for the redevelopment of Humphry Davy House on Golden Smithies Lane.The company is seeking permission to convert and extend the building to create 109 flats. Of these 48 would be studios, 52 would be one-bed flats and nine would be two-bed flats. A total of 145 car parking spaces would be provided.The application will go before the council’s planning committee on 4 April and a planning officer’s report prepared for the meeting recommends that approval is granted, subject to the signing of a Section 106 agreement to secure a £119,280 towards affordable housing in the area.The report said the scheme would “represent an acceptable and appropriate form of development”.Humphry Davy House has been vacant for more than ten years having recently been occupied by the University of Sheffield as part of the School of Nursing and Midwifery.The 45,460 sq ft building was acquired by The Investment Room in July 2016 in a deal brokered by property consultancy Barnsdales. SMC Chartered Surveyors acted for the vendor on this transaction.