King's Buildings, Hull: £250,000 levelling up funding to turn Grade II-listed building into offices

Council officials have signed off the £249,986 grant to redevelop the ground floor of King’s Buildings, in South Church Side by Hull Minster. Hull City Council Regeneration Portfolio Holder Paul Drake-Davis said the grant would help bring a prominent city centre building back into use and meet demand for office space from businesses.

The grant comes as part of the £7.5m fund the council created to bring vacant buildings and floor space back into use. That funding comes from the £19.5m the council received in 2021 following its bid to round one of the Levelling Up Funds. The grant for King’s Buildings will go towards the roughly £499,972 cost of refurbishing its ground floor.

It is set to see the removal of a raised floor, windows repaired and new entrance doors fitted, inside works to remodel it and the installing of IT infrastructure. New electrics, plumbing and mechanical works are also set for the building and a kitchen will also be built inside it. The project is set to bring some 550sqm of floorspace back into use.

Above the ground floor, the rest of the building has been converted into 24 fully furnished apartments. Hull developer Paul Luen spent around £4m converting the upper floors of the building.

King’s Buildings were built between 1866 and 1875 and they were granted Grade II-listed status in 1994. The record detailing the project stated it comes as part of the £7.5m Levelling Up Grant scheme’s aim to breathe new life into Whitefriargate, Albion Square and the surrounding area.

The decision record stated: “The Grant scheme will allow various businesses to open and operate. It will ensure the spill-over effects from investment in Whitefriargate and Albion Square are fully capitalised upon by bridging the viability gap that is currently preventing the delivery of market-led regeneration to bring floor-space back into use.

“The grant scheme will improve Hull’s visitor and experiential offer that will make the city centre a more attractive place to live, work and play. The costs to bring vacant city centre floorspace back into economic use can be economically unviable for businesses due to a range of factors, including abnormal costs associated with repair and conversion works to historic buildings.”