Up to 100,000 sq ft of newly refurbished employment space in one of the landmark buildings on the former Cadbury’s chocolate factory site at Keynsham is to be marketed by regional property consultancy Alder King.
All three of the site’s historic red brick factory buildings were acquired earlier this year by Bristol-based elderly care specialist St Monica Trust.
It has submitted a planning application to Bath & North East Somerset Council for the £50m redevelopment of two of the blocks into 151 assisted living apartments and a 90-bed care home and the creation of up to 100,000 sq ft of employment space in Block C Somerdale.
The proposal includes a ground floor GP surgery and five upper floors for office use. Each floor will have large, open-plan and flexible floorplates of at least 15,000 sq ft.
The scheme aims to retain or replicate as much as possible of the building’s industrial heritage, including its distinctive floor to ceiling windows which provide natural daylight and spectacular views.
Alder King Bristol-based partner Simon Price said this would give the development the same type of character as the successful Paintworks scheme in Bristol – but on a much larger scale. Paintworks, a former industrial site, has become a vibrant hub for creative businesses.
“The proposed quality of the fit-out, the size of floorplates and the scheme’s proximity to the local amenities of Keynsham, including the railway station, will make this one of the most distinctive commercial locations outside Bristol and Bath,” he said.
Work on St Monica’s residential and commercial redevelopment of the site is due to complete in spring 2017, subject to planning. Taylor Wimpey is currently developing 700 new homes as part of its £34m development of the site.
The factory was built in the 1930s and closed in 2011 after Cadbury was taken over by US food giant Kraft.
Pictured: A computer-generated image of Block C Somerdale
