Housing plans for city’s historic paint firm site approved
A move to build new flats and homes on the site of a historic Wolverhampton paint firm has been approved.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Wolverhampton Council has backed plans to demolish the paint firm S.J. Dixon & Son’s former warehouse in Cleveland Road to make way for 99 ‘affordable’ homes and apartments.
The new homes, managed by Walsall Housing Group (whg) and YMCA, would also be built on the site of the former Newmarket Hotel and Working Mens Club which was demolished in 2015.
The paint and wallpaper firm’s warehouse will be demolished to make way for 21 new homes and 42 apartments.
The land opposite which was home to the Newmarket Hotel and Cleveland Working Mens Club before it was demolished in 2015, would also be used for new homes and apartments. Dixon House in Cleveland Road would be converted into 30 apartments.
A previous bid to open a Costa Coffee drive-through and Greggs bakery on the site was rejected by the council in 2020.
Tim Dixon, managing director of S.J. Dixon & Son, said the firm’s warehouse had become a “sanctuary for pigeons” and was full of moss and fern. The warehouse’s roof was “shot” and leaking damp into neighbouring listed buildings.
A statement included with the application said: “The proposed development will deliver considerable benefits to the city of Wolverhampton.
“It will deliver much-needed residential accommodation in the city centre and ensure the long-term beneficial use of another of the city’s most iconic buildings.”
S.J. Dixon & Son, which was founded in the city 170 years ago, moved to Carvers Building Supplies in Littles Lane leaving the historic building empty.
The site, which borders Bilston Road and Hospital Street, lies within the Cleveland Road conservation area. This includes the nearby grade II listed Royal Hospital and former Baker’s Shoe Factory.
The Dixons building was originally built in 1885 as a carriage manufacturer. The former Newmarket Hotel and Working Mens Club was demolished in 2015 to make way for a new Tesco supermarket and the site has been empty since.
The area forms part of the proposed multi-million pound ‘Royal Quarter’ in Wolverhampton which already includes new houses and apartments on the site of the city’s former bus depot.
The former Royal Hospital site, empty since 1997, was bought and then sold by Tesco with plans for a new supermarket failing to get off the ground. The historic building is now being converted into apartments for the over-55s.
