One of Bath’s largest undeveloped former industrial sites has been put up for sale after lying unoccupied for 16 years.
The landmark 5.3-acre former Bath Press site on Lower Bristol Road has planning permission for 247 apartments and 30 townhouses, as well as 16,200 sq ft of offices.
Owner Abrdn (formerly Aberdeen Standard Investments), which bought it in 2017 for £100m, has put it on the market for an undisclosed sum, with its marketing agents describing it as an “exceptionally rare” site for Bath.
The site was originally home to the Pitman Press, founded in 1889 by Sir Isaac Pitman, the founder of the shorthand system that still bears his name.
For more than a century, it was a major employer in the city, printing books and a range of publications.
It survived as a printing works until 2007 when it finally closed down and the remaining 200 workers made redundant.
Following that many of the buildings on the sprawling site were demolished by a previous owner – although the frontage of the original printworks, which is locally listed, has been preserved, along with the original chimney.
In 2012 a plan for a supermarket and homes on the site was put forward by Tesco. However, a public inquiry ruled it was not a suitable option.
Since acquiring it six years ago Abrdn has drawn up a number of schemes for the site without starting work, claiming they were not viable.
The latest proposed development – designed by Scottish architects CDA and Bath-based landscape architects Macgregor Smith – gained planning permission fro Bath & North East Somerset Council last November and incorporates the site’s historic elements with contemporary architecture.
The Lower Bristol Road area, once Bath’s industrial heartland, has been transformed in recent years, with long-delayed schemes, such as the regeneration of the grade-II listed, 40,000 sq ft former Stothert & Pitt Newark works into modern workspace, coming to fruition.
The area also sits within the wider Riverside Enterprise Area.
Marketing agents Savills said the apartments planned for Bath Press site, which have been designed in conjunction with a build-to-rent operator, include one, two and three-bedroom units in four and five-storey blocks.
The original façade and chimney will be incorporated into the apartment scheme, with the proposals including a private roof terrace around the main chimney.
The masterplan for the scheme also includes a further two roof terraces and three landscaped areas, including a playground, as well as 122 car parking spaces and cycle stores with capacity for 596 spaces across the site.
Savills Bristol development team director Ben Taylor said: “We are delighted to be offering the former Bath Press site to the market.
“Sites of this nature and scale are exceptionally rare in Bath and, even more so, those with detailed planning permission.”
The site is being offered for sale by informal tender on a freehold basis with vacant possession.
