A plan to build a five-storey building on top of a convenience store in Reading town centre has been submitted to the council.
Arun Serviced Apartments wants to demolish the shop at 136-137 Friar Street to make way for hotel apartments.
The store and the front of the building would be retained, with parts to the rear being replaced with a brick-built extension.
The scheme would create 14 serviced apartments, each comprising a double bedroom, a kitchen and dining area, space to store clothes and belongings and a bathroom.
Access to the rooms would be provided through an existing doorway closest to the Revolucion de Cuba cocktail bar next door.
The site would be next to a redevelopment planned for the corner of Queen Victoria Street and Friar Street. This includes a 163-bed hotel, which would see the demolition of buildings containing Revolucion de Cuba and the Eyesite Opticians and replacing them with a seven-storey Leonardo Hotel.
The Nexus Planning agent used the approval of the hotel to justify the increased height to the building which the extension would create.
The agent said: “The granting of this permission demonstrates the council’s acceptance of the principle of increased bulk and massing of buildings within the Friar Street area.”
The plan for the hotel was approved along with the creation of serviced apartments and the creation of a new courtyard development at the junction of Friar Street and Queen Victoria Street in December last year.
The developer’s planning agent Nexus Planning said: “The Proposed Development is a carefully designed modern response to the existing building and character of the wider area.
“It combines both the retention of local character and innovation to provide a building that is fitting of this key location in Reading.”
It is understood that the upper floors of the existing building are used as offices and storage space.
Changes to the upper floors and the newly-built extension would make up the applied for serviced apartments.
Occupants would be able to use a lounge and garden deck on the first floor, with the second, third, fourth and fifth floors all being taken up by serviced apartment rooms.
