Redevelopment of the Bath Press site, one of the city’s largest undeveloped former industrial areas, is to go ahead after years of delays, following its acquisition by a major property firm.
Essex-based specialist developer City & Country snapped up the high-profile 5.3-acre site on Lower Bristol Road for £13.8m this week and announced it intends to build more than 250 homes on it along with commercial space.
The family-owned developer acquired the site, which has planning permission for 247 apartments and 30 townhouses as well as 16,200 sq ft of offices, from Abrdn (formerly Aberdeen Standard Investments), its owner since 2017.
City & Country is active on a number of projects across the South West region, including in Bristol, where it is transforming the Grade II listed former General Hospital into a development of 206 homes with an upmarket retail and restaurant mall and a former tobacco factory, also Grade II listed, into a ‘chic’ apartment complex.
Other City & Country projects include the conversion of former prison sites at Dorchester and Gloucester into apartments and a housing development at Burderop Park, near Swindon.
The firm said while the redevelopment of the Bath Press site would be new-build residential led, with a mixture of new-build apartments, houses and office space, its historic façade would be retained.
The site was originally home to the Pitman Press, founded in 1889 by Sir Isaac Pitman, the founder of the shorthand system that still bears his name.
For more than a century, it was a major employer in the city, printing books and a range of publications.
It survived as a printing works until 2007 when it finally closed down and the remaining 200 workers made redundant.
Following that many of the buildings on the sprawling site were demolished by a previous owner – although the frontage of the original printworks, which is locally listed, has been preserved, along with the original chimney.
In 2012 a plan for a supermarket and homes on the site was put forward by Tesco. However, a public inquiry ruled it was not a suitable option.
Abrdn drew up a number of schemes for the site without starting work, claiming they were not viable.
When the site was put on the market last year, commercial agents Savills said the apartments would include one, two and three-bedroom units in four and five-storey blocks.
The sale document also said the original façade and chimney would be incorporated into the apartment scheme, with the proposals including a private roof terrace around the main chimney.
The masterplan for the scheme also included a further two roof terraces and three landscaped areas, including a playground, as well as 122 car parking spaces and cycle stores with capacity for 596 spaces across the site.
City & Country land & property director Simon Marner said as the site already had planning permission, building work would start “as soon as possible”.
He added: “This is a significant acquisition for the business, with the site due to deliver more than 250 units in addition to the commercial space.
“Bath is a thriving city, known for its status as a World Heritage Site and a centre of international cultural significance and is an excellent fit for our brand.
“We have ambitious plans for the next five years as a business, as we continue expanding our new build arm and restoring heritage buildings to provide beautiful, modern high-specification homes.
“As with all our new build homes, we pride ourselves in the quality of our design and the creation of community. Placemaking is at the heart of everything we do, and this site will be no different.”
The Lower Bristol Road area, once Bath’s industrial heartland, has been transformed in recent years, with long-delayed schemes, such as the regeneration of the Grade-II listed, 40,000 sq ft former Stothert & Pitt Newark works into modern workspace, coming to fruition.
