More than 100 luxury flats planned for Dean Clough, site's boss reveals

Hopes of building flats at Dean Clough were made public last year but Mr Hall has now provided further detail about the vision for the site in an interview with The Yorkshire Post.

He said he believes there is a compelling argument to add living space to the site, which is already home to to dozens of businesses, restaurants and cafes, as well as a theatre and six art galleries.

Mr Hall said: “The one ingredient which isn’t here yet is residential. I think there is something indisputable about the idea that the residential has to be seen as an integral part of the offering. It provides the opportunity for a really rounded community.

“We see the synergy of the different parts here in numerous areas even now where we’ve got a fantastic new gymnastics facility at the far end of the site. We’re already hearing from other operators that families are coming in for meals before or after sessions.

“The residential just flows into that and cements those experiences.

“We’ve already done a masterplanning exercise for the site as a whole. It is something we have discussed at length with the local authority and Homes England and Historic England. We are in the process at the moment of agreeing an outline development framework about the elements that may be considered as part of the overall site masterplan.”

Mr Hall said it was not possible to provide a timescale for when the flats could open at this stage with work to demonstrate the financial viability of the potential schemes still under way.

“Primarily it is about making those elements work in terms of how they are deliverable. In my view is, it is indisputable by the time you create the right calibre of product and offer then you will create the outputs that will justify the investment.

"At the moment, the market is not yet at the point where it can readily illustrate that but I suspect that is something where within a period of time, you will be able to achieve that. We are working with various partners about how that is possible to be delivered in the medium-term.”

He said sites for where the flats could be located have been identified.

“The first element we are specifically looking at is there used to be a mill in the centre of the site called C Mill and we’re looking at recreating what we have loosely called C Mill. It would be in the order of about 100 residential units, a mixture of two and one-bedroom flats basically. It is substantial.

“The other one is the top floor of D Mill and converting that into flats. That is much smaller scale of around 18 flats.

"Those are the first two elements tabled with an idea of how that are deliverable.

“It has to be matter of partnership working in order to bring those things about.”