Plans for a 33-storey co-living scheme in the centre of Cardiff can be revealed. Bangor-based and Alternative Investment Market listed developer Watkin Jones will next week launch a pre-planning public consultation exercise for its 400 build-to-rent bedroom scheme on a brownfield site at Custom House Street.
Co-living is a type of communal housing in which residents have private bedrooms and bathrooms, but share other facilities required to meet everyday needs, such as communal kitchens and living spaces.
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Other shared facilities in the scheme, designed by Cardiff-based Rio Architects, include a gym, gardens and co-working space. The co-living concept has grown in popularity in other core UK cities, including London and Bristol.
The statutory consultation will run to the end of March with a planning application expected to be submitted to Cardiff Council in the spring. Watkin Jones, which specialises in student accommodation and build-to-rent developments, is working with planning consultants Lichfields on the project. Two virtual webinars will be staged this month to gauge the views of, and obtain suggestions from, the local community and stakeholders on the plans ahead of submission.
Iain Smith, planning director at Watkin Jones, said: “The webinars will provide us with the opportunity to engage with the community, understand their perspectives and ideas. This feedback will help shape our development plans, ensuring that the final submission aligns with the needs of the surrounding community and future residents. As an experienced developer and manager of co-living, the sessions will also provide a platform for the community to ask questions about this emerging form of housing.”
Subject to planning approval, work on the scheme would start before the end of the year and take around 30 months to complete. As with its other property schemes, Watkins Jones would be expected to sell the asset to an institutional investor.
Last year work started transforming the former Knox Court office building on Newport Road in Cardiff for another co-living scheme. It came after developer Urban Centric struck a £23.8m debt deal with Shawbrook for the project at the 60,000 sq ft building, alongside securing a £7.6m equity injection from Housing Growth Partnership, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group.
The project is scheduled for next January and will provide 206 apartments for rent, alongside shared areas. It will also have office units on the ground floor. The building became vacate after former tenant in L&G moved to new headquarters in the city at the Interchange scheme next to Cardiff Central Station in 2023. For the latest Cardiff news, sign up to our newsletter here