A plan to build a five-storey building for more apartments in the heart of Reading town centre has been submitted.

Arun Serviced Apartments has submitted a plan to part demolish an existing convenience shop to make way for the five-storey building containing hotel apartments at 136-137 Friar Street.

This site is currently home to the Friar Street Convenience Store.

The store and the front of the building would be retained, with parts to the rear being replaced with an extension made of brick.

The scheme would create 14 serviced apartments, with each coming with a double bedroom, a kitchen and dining area, space to store clothes and belongings and a shower toilet.

Access to the rooms would be provided through an existing doorway closest to the Revolucion de Cuba cocktail bar next door.

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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 make use of 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.

Reading Chronicle: The proposed cross section for the plan to add an extension to 136-137 Friar Street Reading to create 14 serviced apartments. Credit: Colony ArchitectsThe proposed cross section for the plan to add an extension to 136-137 Friar Street Reading to create 14 serviced apartments. Credit: Colony Architects

You can view the application by typing reference 231266 into the council’s planning portal.

It coheres with an approved plan by Erleigh Investments Ltd to build an extension which increases the amount of floorspace for the convenience store.

The extension of the retail unit the convenience store occupies (reference 220215) was approved by the council’s planning department in April 2022.

Reading Chronicle: The proposed ground and first floor layout for the plan to add 14 serviced apartments to 136-137 Friar Street, Reading. Credit: Colony ArchitectsThe proposed ground and first floor layout for the plan to add 14 serviced apartments to 136-137 Friar Street, Reading. Credit: Colony Architects

The latest plan for the 14 new temporary stay flats would be located right next to an approved project to build a 163-bed hotel, which involves the demolition of buildings containing Revolucion de Cuba and the Eyesite Opticians and replacing them with a seven-storey Leonardo Hotel.

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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.