A grand city centre listed building that has been empty for several years will soon get a new lease of life.

The Grade II listed property on the corner of Cheapside and Kirkgate has most recently been offices, but was originally built in in the 1880s for Bradford Old Bank – a company that eventually merged with 250 other businesses to become Barclays Bank.

Standing just yards from the Broadway Shopping Centre, Forster Square Rail Station and the Midland Hotel, it is one of the most prominent empty buildings in the city.

The former bank at the junction of Kirkgate and CheapsideThe former bank at the junction of Kirkgate and Cheapside (Image: T&A)

Now new plans submitted to Bradford Council have revealed that the building will be used as offices for Bradford-based Altaf Solicitors.

Amjid Hussain has applied for listed building consent to install new signage for the solicitors’ firm above the building’s main entrance and on the side of the property.

An application for advertising consent has also been submitted.

The plans say: “The building is clearly deserving of its listed status and stands as both a fine example of Milnes & France architecture and of one of the area’s first banks.”

It says the signage will be sympathetic to the property.

A decision on the application is expected by the end of the year.