The 7 new apartments have been created inside a listed building at 2 Smith Street, formerly a coaching inn, which has undergone a £1 million refurbishment.
Developers Millerbook received support from us, and we’re pushing for further residential development in Rochdale town centre.
Millerbrook, which owns properties in the Northern Quarter, has already let 2 of its Rochdale properties and believe that the borough will be the next urban centre to experience major housing growth.
Richard Ward, Development Director, said: “With many renters now being priced out of the Manchester city centre market, we firmly believe that surrounding boroughs with excellent transport links into the city, like Rochdale, will become increasingly popular.”
The new homes are in Rochdale town centre’s Heritage Action Zone, one of just 16 areas of historical interest across the country, which have been selected to receive targeted support from Historic England to help them regenerate over a 5 year period.
Almost £800,000 of building grants have already been made available to help convert and restore historic buildings in Rochdale’s Heritage Action Zone. The area also takes in Central Retail Park, which we acquired late last year for £13.2 million with a view to creating around 150 new homes.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen today. Rochdale has changed significantly since the last time I came, with all the redevelopment that’s taking place, and it’s so nice to see the old and the new sitting side by side. What’s always differentiated Rochdale is a heritage offer that’s over and above and it’s great to see old buildings like this being given a new lease of life. I’m really confident about the regeneration which the council is undertaking here and I’m supporting their efforts all the way. A lot has taken place and it’s the start of even more to come.”
Richard Ward, added: “It was great to welcome Andy to the apartments and he was clearly impressed with what he saw. With all the development that’s happening Rochdale town centre, the timing is exactly right to create a residential offer here and I’m not surprised that we’ve already let 2 of our apartments.”
