Developers have started work on a project to create further student accommodation in Lincoln – after buying a former nursing home.
Banks Long & Co, which acted for Lincolnshire County Council in the sale of the
old Park View Nursing Home, off the High Street, said the Unity Property Group is beginning to breathe new life into the building.
And the Lincoln-based commercial agency revealed it is hoping to secure
a buyer for another former nursing home in Sleaford, that they have recently been instructed to sell, having also only last week successfully negotiated a conditional sale of a former nursing home in Louth on behalf of the County Council.
Today the Unity Property Group, which has been given the green light by planners to transform the Park View site, said its decision to invest in further high class student accommodation builds on its strong relationship with the University of Lincoln.
Partners Simon Grace and Dominik Jackson said the Park View project substantially increases Unity’s portfolio of private professional and student properties in Lincoln and Nottingham.
Mr Grace said: “The University of Lincoln won an NHS contract (awarded by the Strategic Health Authority), which will see it increase the number of student nurses which it trains this year.”
The pre-registration nursing contract to deliver adult and mental health training for nurses means that the University is expecting take about 220 new nursing students this September. This is four-fold the number taken last year.
“They will be doing their academic work here and undertaking practical work in hospitals across Lincolnshire, working regular shift patterns,” said Mr Grace.
Mr Jackson said that Unity prides itself on providing higher-specification accommodation.
“We are professional landlords and we strive to create high quality, value-for-money accommodation. The University of Lincoln is aware of our track record.
“We are providing 53 student units at the Park View site and we believe we have allayed concerns about traffic and congestion. Originally. this was a 40 to 50 bedroomed care home, employing staff, visited by ambulances and welcoming residents’ families.
“In addition to providing quality accommodation, we are putting in cycle racks and sheds. We believe we are injecting new life into the local community and that our move will also be good news for local businesses.”
Unity aims to have the student homes ready for the start of the new University term in mid-September.
Its latest development will give the business a portfolio of about 110 student rooms, but Unity also owns over 100 other privately-rented homes for professionals.
“We continue to look for further small opportunities in the current market and, because of the economic climate, this includes business premises with development potential,” added Mr Jackson.
Banks Long & Co Director James Butcher said: “We value our relationship with Lincolnshire County Council and are pleased to have been able to negotiate a sale of the former Park View nursing home on behalf of the authority.
“We are also marketing two other former care homes on their behalf; Crowtree House, Crowtree Lane, Louth – which we have now sold to a national retirement home developer on a conditional deal, subject to planning – and Bonner House,
Mareham Lane, Sleaford, which we have only recently brought to the market and
which we already have serious interest in from a number of potential buyers,
for a variety of uses.”
