PJ Livesey Group appointed to York project

PJ Livesey Group, a specialist in refurbishing iconic buildings, has been appointed by The Retreat York as preferred supplier to develop the site of a former psychiatric hospital.The 40-acre Heslington Road site features a main building opened in 1796 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). It closed to inpatients at the end of 2018.It was offered for sale by The Retreat in September last year as part of a wider reconfiguration of services, which included the opening of a new children’s outpatient unit in Strensall and the expansion of adult services into the North West of England.The sale does not include all of the buildings in the Heslington Road estate, and The Retreat will continue to provide services from Heslington Road as part of its adult neurodevelopmental and psychological assessment and therapy services.Manchester-based PJ Livesey Group’s bid was selected following a competitive process and, subject to formal ratification by the Retreat’s board of trustees, the two parties will enter formal contract negotiations.The initial proposal for the site is for residential development featuring a proportion of affordable housing and a number of initiatives to enhance public access to parts of the Retreat’s wider estate.