An old unoccupied social club in Reading could be demolished and replaced with a five-storey apartment block, writes James Aldridge, local democracy reporter.
The Curzon Club has stood for decades in Oxford Road as a private members club offering entertainment and bingo nights, a bar, and a hall for functions.
It was part of the Association of Conservative Clubs, but closed in 2020, and put up for sale with an asking price of £695,000.
City Wide Serviced Apartments want to replace it with a five-and-a-half storey apartment block.
Despite it being a prominent character building in Oxford Road, the Curzon Club is not listed.
Artists impressions show a brick and grey-coloured three storey house-like building, hall and extensions.
The Keen Partnership, the planning agents for the applicants, say the new block would ‘blend in’ with more modern buildings in Oxford Road in a development that will “stand the test of time.”
The design access statement states: “The proposal seeks to improve the functionality, economics and longevity of the site, whilst positively contributing to the local character and aesthetics of the wider locality through a sensitive design approach which seeks to successfully and sympathetically integrate with the wider site surroundings.”
The application description states there will be 35 flats, 33 flats are mentioned in the design access statement and planning statement submitted.
The first to fourth floors of the building would each have seven apartments in them, with the fifth floor having four apartments and the half storey coming with one flat.
They would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom flats, with 30% of them being affordable.
The ground floor would have retail space and access to the car park, which would have 15 parking spaces, with one of these spaces being disabled and three offering electrical vehicle charging.
The plan was submitted in September and can be found by typing reference 221345 into the council’s planning portal.
Earlier this year, City Wide Serviced Apartments submitted an application to determine whether they needed prior approval from the council to knock down the building.
The council’s head of planning, development and regulatory services determined that prior approval would be needed, as a series of issues involved with the demolition would need to be resolved.
A demolition method statement is needed laying out how the site will be secured and how the deconstruction process will be managed.
This prior approval application using reference 221005.
