Work has started transforming a vacant office building in the centre of Cardiff into a residential scheme providing 200 co-living apartments.
Urban Centric agreed a £6.2m acquisition for the 60,000 sq ft Knox Court building in 2022 with Maya Capital.
Completion of the deal was subject to obtaining planning approval for a residential scheme from Cardiff Council. Urban Centric has now confirmed it has secured consent, subject to a 106 agreement.
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The vacate building was previously occupied by financial services company L&G. Last year it moved staff from the building, alongside those located at the nearby Brunel House building, into a new under one roof 120,000 sq ft HQ for the city at the Interchange development, which forms part of the wider Central Square scheme around Cardiff Central Railway Station.
Urban Centric will transform the building into a co-living development with some shared areas. There will be two office units on the ground floor. Popular in London, it will be the first co-living development in Wales.
With strip out work under way, main work will start this summer and take 18-months to complete.
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Maya Capital acquired Knox Court in 2015 as part of its regional office investment strategy. It completed two lease regears with Legal & General, before they vacated.
Maya Capital was advised by James Vivian and Ross Griffin of property advisory firm Savills on its sale of the building to Urban Centric.
Managing director of Urban Centric Andrew Woods has said of the scheme: “Our plans are to repurpose the building to EPC (energy performance certificate) A rated residential homes that will be fit for the next generation of renters looking for high quality living space in the city centre.”