Blackpool signs off much-anticipated office to resi conversion

Mexford House can now be repurposed to deliver 78 flats, more than a decade after the civil service relocated and left the building empty.

Blackpool Council followed officer recommendations to approve Mexford Group’s proposals to convert the 23,000 sq ft office building into 78 self-contained flats at a planning meeting on Tuesday.

The MK Commercial-designed scheme will bring the former civil service property off Mexford Avenue back into use. Mexford House was used by the Department for Work and Pensions from 1971 until its closure in 2009.

Residents will be provided with 112 car parking spaces, including 13 accessible and 12 electric vehicle charging bays.

Officers had highlighted concerns about the lack of open space provision and the amount of floorspace that the flats will provide.

However, these considerations were deemed to be outweighed by the development’s contribution towards the borough’s housing needs, as well as the benefits of bringing the increasingly derelict site back into beneficial use.

Mexford Group submitted the plans last July, originally proposing to provide 87 units. The development has been scaled back since, with a reduction of nine units.

This application follows previous plans to convert the three-storey building into 92 flats. These plans were approved in 2019 and the permission has now lapsed.

Smith & Love is advising on the latest proposals. The project team also includes Ascerta, Trevor Bridge Associates, and PSA Design.

To learn more about the plans, search for application number 22/0512 on Blackpool Council’s planning portal.