City office block could be converted into flats

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

A former office block, which council planning officers said could be knocked down and turned into a car park, may get a new lease of life as flats.

Housing association Coastal Housing Group and development partner Morganstone want to convert the former Ty Gwalia building in the centre of Swansea, and add two storeys to create a 48-flat development potentially with a couple of ground-floor offices.

Coppergate

The building – now called Ty Menyn – would be the same height as the adjoining section of the Coppergate student development. There’d be a central atrium, cycle storage including electric charging points, and no on-site car parking.

Council officers are assessing the pre-application inquiry, which is likely to be followed by a full planning application along with transport and design statements.

The joint enquiry by Coastal Housing and Morganstone said the site has been empty since 2020 and was once a butter-packing factory, department store, and then offices. A letter from planning consultants on their behalf said some of the proposed flats currently fell below the council’s minimum internal space requirements due to the constraints of the building’s fabric. It added: “Further design work is ongoing to address this through internal reconfiguration.”

Demolition

In 2021 the building’s former owner, Estateways PLC, gained consent to demolish it and then applied successively to replace it with a car park for three years pending further redevelopment options.

Objectors to the demolition wondered why the building couldn’t be reused rather than knocked down. One of them said: “This is by far one of the nicer buildings on The Kingsway and should not be demolished.”

In June last year Coastal Housing said it had bought the building and that it hoped to use it for affordable flats. The new proposals continue a trend of developers converting vacant upper floor units in the city centre into flats. New offices have also been built.