Here is a first look inside the luxury homes and apartments being built in Cardiff that have already sold out six months ahead of their completion date.
New houses, apartments and retail spaces are under construction on the site of an old laundry that served Pontcanna for 160 years.
The Laundry Quarter development comprises 34 homes - 16 houses and 18 flats - and nine retail spaces for independent businesses.
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Upmarket developers Portabella received planning permission to re-develop the site in late February 2020.
However, the start of construction was delayed by six months following the onset of the pandemic, until work finally got underway in September 2020.
The first residents are expected to move in in March 2022, with others to follow in the consecutive months. The whole development is set to be finished by July.
Portabella has announced that, as of January 2022, all properties in the development have been sold.
David Loosemore, Managing Director at Portabella, said: “Starting construction during a pandemic was always going to bring challenges, not least with the future of the property market being somewhat unpredictable, but we spent the six months while construction was delayed fine-tuning every detail so that Laundry Quarter could be the very best it could be.
"There were some bumps in the road with unpredictable materials costs and supply-chain difficulties but, together with the wider team, we managed to navigate these somehow.
“We launched Laundry Quarter to the market during late 2020 when our medium of speaking to prospective buyers was entirely Zoom and were really pleased to find some people happy to commit more than 18 months ahead of completion. We look forward to delivering a product worthy of the wait.”
The site, which is based on a private road just off Romilly Crescent, is set to provide short rows of four and five bedroom homes around landscaped areas, including off-road parking.
It will open out onto Llandaff Road where two blocks of one and two-bedroom apartments are being built.
Portabella says many of these apartments will have outdoor space, as well as a shared rooftop terrace.
Peter Reilly, Commercial Director of Portabella, said: “We didn’t want a ubiquitous gated development of luxury houses, we wanted to create housing harmonious with its surroundings, and we also wanted to introduce commercial spaces to enliven the development for its residents, their neighbours, and the wider community.
“The site is intended to augment the area by providing connection and communication, linking the environment for everyone. Cars for non-residents will be restricted from travelling through the site but pedestrians and cyclists will be welcome to pass through.”
He added: "We've got a great mix of people buying from us, it's going to be a thriving mini community within Pontcanna."
Portabella says it remains committed to targeting a mix of independent, local businesses to fill the nine retail spaces, which are of various sizes.
It added it has already received a great deal of interest and has secured some "high-profile" tenants.
"I can confirm we've agreed terms with two occupiers both of whom are well-established and much loved existing local business operators. They're each looking to do a slightly new concept at Laundry Quarter and we're really excited to bring them to Pontcanna," said Mr Reilly.
The development is taking place on what was previously a laundry site that served the Pontcanna community for over 160 years. Vaughan’s Laundry, a dry-cleaning business, was set up by William Vaughan in 1860. The Llandaff Road site was the headquarters of WE Vaughan & Co, Mr Vaughan’s 22-shop business, until it closed in the 1970s.
More recently, the site has been home to independent businesses such as the Bone Yard and Dusty Knuckle - which have since moved to the top of Cowbridge Road East - as well as the Printhaus, which now operates out of Chapter Arts Centre.
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