Makeover Returns Garden Village Shopping Centre To Former Glory

Queensway Properties have completed the external rendering of Grade II listed Garden Village Shopping Centre. It was the UK’s first renovation project to receive approval for this type of work from local Councillors.

Following concerns the building was going to rack and ruin, directors of Queensway Properties have worked with local councillors to agree on a solution to overhaul parts of the external brickwork which had crumbled away, creating damp inside the property and leaving parts of it uninhabitable.

As an alternative to a costly re-build, the technique applied by Hodgson Rendering Specialists was approved as it simulates the original the brick-work at either side of the archway and window surrounds. Returning the Garden Village Shopping Centre to its former glory.

Refurbishment works continue on the internal apartments which are on the market for sale to local first-time buyers and downsizers.

Garden Village was designed by the Reckitt family and the Shopping Centre was the focal point, providing everything they could need including a greengrocer and Post Office. In more recent years, the building had been converted into apartments.

Queensway Properties is an Essex based developer, owned and managed by Nick Eaton and Nick Bishop who purchased the site in 2006 and have since rented the apartments to local people.

Nick Eaton, Director of Queensway Properties says:

“Until recently, the apartments at Garden Village Shopping Centre have been tenanted. Due to the issues on the externals, we made the decision to renovate the building and have invested £550,000 to improve it.”

“In each apartment, we have retained original features, refurbished sash windows and installed new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, re-wired, and decorated throughout.”

Well-known for its community spirit and a fantastic central location, Garden Village Shopping Centre is a two-storey E-shaped building which surrounds a village-style green, with established landscaping, providing a unique place to live.

Fellow Director, Nick Bishop says:

“Although we are not based locally, we started investing in property in Hull over a decade ago, always having faith in the city and wanting to play our part in its onward improvement.”

“With advice from Danny Gough at Mypad Lettings and Management, we have always found that Hull is, without doubt, an excellent location for investors and our approach is to sympathetically improve the sites we purchase, we want to make enjoyable places to live and the Garden Village Shopping Centre lends itself perfectly to our ethos.”

“The Reckitt family were industrialists and shared the dream of others like Cadburys to create a space for employees to live close to their workplace and to be a part of a solid community. Therefore, it is important for us as property developers to celebrate this history and uphold it into the future.”