ONE of the city’s most decrepit heritage buildings, which is regularly frequented by drug users, could soon be converted into flats.
Galem House on Vincent Street has been derelict for decades, and is one of the biggest eyesore buildings in the city’s Goitside Conservation Area.
But a new planning application by the Coverstone Investments Ltd and Trident House Development details a scheme that would see the derelict building restored, extended and converted into 77 flats.
A new ceiling extension would be built, turning the building from seven-storey to nine-storey.
Developers argue that even after this work, it will still have the appearance of “a 20th Century industrial building.”
If approved the building would be divided into nine studio flats, 59 one-bed apartments and nine two-bed apartments.
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One floor of the building will include communal space, including a gym, spa with sauna and eight-person hot tub, cycle storage area and a communal room with library space.
The Goitside area is home to some of Bradford’s earliest industrial buildings, but has suffered from a lack of investment in recent decades.
The application says the warehouse is a “key building in the Conservation Area” but adds: “Its significance is devalued by its present state.”
Much of the Galem House had been badly damaged by a large fire, and a report included in the application details the poor state of the warehouse.
A “roost assessment” was carried out to see if the building was home to bats.
That assessment said: “The building is exceptionally dilapidated and unsafe due to 20 years of water damage as a result of collapsed sections of the roof which has, over time, resulted in degradation of all levels with the exception of parts of the ground floor.
“It should be noted that the ground floor was found to be abundant in substance abuse paraphernalia including recently used hypodermic needles and evidence of rough sleepers, with individuals immediately re-entering the building following our daytime assessment.”
It says because of the presence of drug users, it was deemed to dangerous for the bat expert to visit the building at night to see if it is home to the nocturnal mammal.
In 2008 a planning application to demolish the building and replace it with an office and flats was approved, although work never began.
That was followed by an application in 2016 for an application to convert the building to 64 flats. Again, that work never began.
A decision on this latest application is expected in October.
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