A major part of the Grade II listed former Plymouth Arts Centre building is to be auctioned with a guide price of more than £290,000 just a month after councillors threw out plans for it to be turned into flats.
Clive Emson Land and Property Auctioneers will put the empty four-storey pile at 38 Looe Street under the hammer on March 23, 2022.
That is just weeks after Plymouth City Council’s planning committee rejected a proposal to convert the building into an 11-bed HMO (house in multi-occupation).
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox
Councillors were concerned about the size of rooms, parking issues, a lack of outside space, and whether the application could lead to the property becoming an AirBnB or used for short term holiday lets.
An agent for the applicant had denied there was any possibility of the building becoming used as an AirBnB, during the meeting, and said it had previously failed to sell, and needed expensive repairs.
Now a new owner is being sought for the four-storey vacant property on the Barbican. The building includes a basement, ground floor retail area with bar plus offices, open plan gallery and offices above.
Its second floor has a bedroom, living room, shower and WC, kitchen and office with two attic rooms above.
The Clive Emson auction house, which is auctioning the freehold, said the building could still be turned into flats if planners can be persuaded.
Auction appraiser Tom Lowe said: “This Barbican property is well known as part of the former Plymouth Arts Centre. It has numerous access points and there is clear potential for subdivision into residential units, subject to the necessary consents.”
The merchant’s house style building dates from the 18th Century and was gifted to the people of Plymouth by famous politician Nancy Astor, initially as a home for the clubs and pursuits of the United Services.
It became Plymouth Arts Centre in 1947, one of seven arts centres set up around the country with funds from the newly established Arts Council of Great Britain. There were gallery spaces, a 61-seat cinema, artist studios, a cafe and bar.
In June 2017 the Arts Centre board learned Arts Council England would discontinue its financial support the following year.
Yet it had a record year in 2017, with nearly 18, 000 admissions for 135 films shown in its cinema. It hosted live event cinema, a film festival, and talks by internationally renowned filmmakers such as director Ben Wheatley and Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins.
But the board decided to sell the building and Plymouth College of Art offered the centre’s cinema a new home. The Arts Centre closed in December 2018.
The arts centre board said it had to sell the Looe Street building because resources were not in place to continue to deliver both the cinema and the visual arts programme. So trustees reached the “reluctant and unavoidable decision” to halt the visual arts programme.
The centre was then split up with 37 Looe Street being sold to a couple and renovated, and 32 and 33 Batter Street also split off. Number 38 Looe Street was sold to a developer and the sustainable refill shop Jar became a ground floor tenant on a short-term lease. It has since moved out.
In 2021 the application to create flats, initially 12 but later reduced to 11, was submitted by Through the Woods Architectural Services on behalf of Peterborough-based KT Development Group Ltd which was understood to be keen to purchase the building. But plans to turn the entire building into flats were dismissed with the committee citing reasons related to amenity impacts on neighbouring properties and a lack of outdoor amenity space for future residents.
