Dramatic vision revealed for Shrewsbury's town square
Up to 50 flats and a new restaurant will be created in Shrewsbury's Princess House as part of a "major upgrade" of the area.
The apartments above the ground floor shops will include 12 penthouse flats on the roof and photovoltaic panels will be set up on the side of the building facing The Square - potentially transforming the view across one of Shrewsbury's most historic areas.
The living rooms of the flats will look out on to The Square, according to plans put forward by Retail Plus Property Partnership.
This picture shows a first glimpse of what the area would look like if the development, which developers claim would make Princess House a "positive asset" to the town centre, goes ahead.
The 50-space car park based on the first floor would remain, and an extension would be built on the High Street side of the building to accommodate some of the flats.
Offices currently based above the ground floor of Princess House include clinics, blood tests and podiatry services run by Shropshire NHS Community Trust, the Armed Forces careers office and the town's job centre.
In plans submitted to Shropshire Council, the scheme's agents Stride Treglown leases for the offices are due to expire in the next two to three years and that current occupiers do not wish to extend the existing arrangements.
No timescale has yet been set for the project.
A design and access statement submitted by Stride Treglown states: "The new scheme seeks to transform Princess House into a positive asset to the historic core of Shrewsbury by changing its appearance and, in particular, by breaking down the apparent bulk of the building.
"The retail units enjoy a good level of occupation, and the area in general contains good
quality shopping, and is very well regarded.
"The office accommodation, however, is less well used, suffering from its' age, without substantial improvement, and a general trend toward businesses downsizing offices, and/ or relocating to newer, purpose built office parks outside the town centre."
"Stride Treglown has been asked to investigate a major upgrade to this building, to make it more productive and useful, and to reorder its appearance in the course of that process, to enable it to make a much more positive contribution to the streetscape in which it is located."
The plans can be viewed on Shropshire Council's website and will be discussed by members of the authority's central planning committee at a future date.
