181 co-living units planned for former Debenhams building
Highgate Capital has applied to Chelmsford City Council to demolish the former service and back office building of the city's old Debenhams store and replace it with Assembly Place, Chelmsford's first co-living scheme.
The development would provide 181 co-living flats in a building of up to 10 storeys, operated by Loom CoLiving. Residents would share a lounge, co-working space, event space, gym, cinema and podcast studio.
The main Debenhams building is now occupied by The Range, but the servicing block beside the River Chelmer is considered to have little future retail use. A planning statement prepared by Savills describes it as redundant and presents the site as a sustainable brownfield opportunity in a prime city centre position, within walking distance of the High Street and the railway and bus stations.
Alongside Savills on planning, the project team includes GRID Architecture, Markides on transport planning and Shared Voice on community engagement.
