Leicester office block to be converted to flats and gym

The shops will be retained but the upper floors will become accommodation

A Leicester office block is set to be converted to 40 flats after planning permission was granted.

The city council has approved the conversion of the upper floors of Horsefair House, in Horsefair Street.

The building currently contains shops on the ground floor and a nightclub, Waikiki, in the basement, but the rest is empty.

Plans show the shops will be retained but the nightclub will close and be converted into a residents' gym.

Planning officers have attached a condition to the approval which requires the club to close before the first residents move in, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Effective use'

The office space is set to become 23 studio flats, 13 one-bed apartments and four two-beds.

Due to the city centre location and local transport links, no car parking is required for the flats. However, 44 bicycle spaces are proposed through the scheme.

Officers also said the new use of the building was likely to result in fewer people travelling to and from it.

If it remained as offices, they said, it would have the capacity to have a much larger number of staff than it could fit residents.

The council granted permission for the scheme saying it was "an effective use of an existing building".