Plans in for 122-bedroom Hull HMO

Following its somewhat chequered past as a hotel, student accommodation, vacant building, and cannabis factory, investor Knight Wood Portfolio has submitted plans to convert 65 Paragon Street into a coliving residence.

Architect Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson and advisor Avison Young have worked on the project, which looks to convert the vacant building into a residential asset.

Located within the main shopping area of Hull, it is around 200 metres from the train station and 500 metres north of the main docks and marina area, in the Paragon Conservation Area.

Starting life as a hotel, the building was converted into student accommodation in 2014.

Planning documents state that according to a ‘local agent’, this eventually failed financially due to low occupancy, given its location five miles from the main university campus.

The building was sold at an Allsop auction in 2018, however the new owners never completed the proposed refurbishment into high-grade student accommodation.

This has led to the property being vacant for the last five years, during which time it has been plagued by issues, including the scamming of overseas investors who were led to believe they were purchasing individual rooms within the building, subsequently losing their money.

Last year, the building was raided by Humberside Police and it transpired that the first floor was being used as a cannabis farm.

Knight Wood Portfolio now owns the building, and was keen to stress that it is not associated with any of the previous issues.

Instead, the investment company believes it can breathe new life into the site, providing 122 high-quality bedrooms and grade A communal facilities, including a gym, cinema room, and working pods.

Each floor would have its own laundry room and communal kitchen for residents to share, and each bed-sit would have its own bathroom and kitchen facilities.

KWP has pointed out that development finance would be difficult to obtain for the property, because of the 33 investors who have been previously scammed, which led to notices on the title of the property.

However, the investment company is able to fund the development itself.

Pre-application discussions with the council have ascertained that Hull considers the change of use into an HMO ‘acceptable’ in principle.