Cooke & Arkwright
News
New development for St Helen’s Road, Swansea
16/07/04
Andton Construction has acquired Ty John Penri, an 11,000 sq ft building on St Helen’s Road, Swansea, and is proposing a mixed development comprising a third floor extension, four retail units, a restaurant and 25 contemporary flats.
The flats are all to be priced at under £100,000, aimed specifically at first time buyers. Designed around a central atrium, they will include apartments with dual consent for live/work units that provide connections for office communications facilities. Development is due to commence in February 2005.
Ty John Penri was sold by joint agents Cooke & Arkwright and Poolman Harlow on behalf of the Union ofWelsh Independents, which has occupied the building since the early 1950s and has a membership of over 500 churches, mostly in Wales. Poolman Harlow has acquired new premises for the Union at Swansea Enterprise Park. Roger Thomas, Chairman at Cooke & Arkwright said that the Union would stay at Ty John Penri until its new premises are completed in March of next year.
Andton Construction recently established its first permanent base outside Cardiff when it opened offices in St Helen’s Road to support its flagship schemes: J-Shed in the SA1 Waterfront development and Castle Buildings in the city centre. Director Simon Baston said that Andton recognised the opportunities offered by Swansea and was keen to transform existing properties as well as develop new ones. “It has taken 15 years for Swansea to emerge from the shadow of Cardiff,” he said. “Now the private sector is very upbeat about the whole locality. The facelift gradually taking place on St Helen’s Road is a reflection of this.”
Ty John Penri was built by the Union of Welsh Independents on the site of St Helen’s Chapel, which had been almost completely destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. It was named after John Penri, a Welsh Puritan author who was executed near Penry Street in London, in 1593. Reverend Dewi Hughes of the Union said, “It has been a good home for the Union for the past half a century, housing our bookshop and printing press, and about 50 members of staff at one time. Now it is time to move on to pastures new.”