Heath and Carby tower blocks in Southend set to finally be transformed

Construction firm Randall Watts has bought Heath House and Carby House, in Victoria Avenue, and plans to convert the former offices into flats, complete with a rooftop garden, concierge service, and gym, by September 2017.

The new development, which features a tree and foliage-lined area surrounding the flats, also includes space for commercial units with the hope of adding a coffee shop, two restaurants, and a general store.

The Southend-based firm signed a deal with Southend Council to restore the dilapidated towerblocks, which have blighted the area for more than a decade.

Mark Watts, managing director of Randall Watts, said: “We are going to put on an external skin, which is like the sort of thing you see in London.

“The former Heath and Carby site, which will now be known as Beaumont Court and Richmond House, is an extremely exciting scheme for us upon which we have been working closely with the council to ensure the development adds to what will be a cosmopolitan and vibrant new neighbourhood in Southend.”

He added: “It’s a beast of a building in Southend, but we thought ‘why not’?”

Mr Watts said he had previously been interested in two other towerblocks, but was priced out of moves for the nearby Victoria and Pinnacle buildings.

He said that within six months, windows at the front of the buildings will have come out, leaving it as a shell.

Steve Ayers, from estate agents Ayers and Cruiks, said: “The units will range in size from 1,000 sq ft to 7,000 sq ft with the developers’ intention of encouraging businesses that will compliment the residential scheme such as convenience store/deli, high class all day brasserie and office units catering for the residential occupiers’ essential needs on their doorstep.

“We are already discussing the units with various parties, but would be only too happy hear from occupiers that feel their use could add to the development.”

There will be 166 car parking spaces, which residents could rent or buy.

Planning permission was previously given for a residential development on the site in 2007.

(l-r) Ron Woodley and Mark Watts

Purchase saves council some millions

BIG spending could take place in Southend town centre following the sale of Heath and Carby House.

Southend Council has £6.7million to spend on the area, after the eyesore blocks were sold privately.

The council had set aside the money to spend on a compulsory purchase order to take control of the blocks from an unnamed private owner after years of neglect.

However, now that the owners, believed to be an overseas firm have sold to Randall Watts, the council can use the money elsewhere.

Ron Woodley, the council leader, said: “The money could be spent on improving the street scene in Victoria Avenue, making it more attractive for potential tenants and people coming in on the approach into town.

“We put considerable pressure on the owners to either make progress on a scheme or face a potential compulsory purchase order and this approach has proven successful.”

Mr Woodley says the new flats will be right for commuters travelling into London and will go on the market six months before the development is finished.

He said: “The developers are trying to create a London-type development for people to live here and commute to London.

“Look at sites like the other offices on Victoria Avenue, Essex House, and Hollybrook homes.

Things are really starting to move now and it gives people from the capital the best of both worlds to live in.”

The plans for Heath and Carby house add to the the transformation taking place along Victoria Avenue, with plans already in to covert other former office blocks, including Baryta House, Victoria House, and the Pinnacle.

Those three developments alone will create 179 flats.

The new flats at the newHeath and Carby buildings will be a mixture of one bed and two bed, starting from £125,000 and rising to £260,000 on the top floor.

David Burch, from the Essex Chambers of Commerce, said: “We regard it as yet more positive news for the future of Southend.

“Quite a number of people have said that Heath and Carby House is an eyesore and a blot on the landscape in one of the main roads coming into the town centre, so the fact it’s going to be redeveloped and improved is another sign of confidence in Southend’s future.

“We hope it will lead to more investment in the town and be an overall benefit.”

Heath House and Carby House have stood looking forlorn in Victoria Avenue for more than 15 years.

Built in the Sixties, at a time when business was booming on the dual carriageway, they were part of a thriving commercial centre in Southend.

But when insurers CE Heath announced they were shutting down on the eve of the millenium, it began a slow decline for the buildings, which became hotspots for vandalism and squatters. The towers, littered with graffiti, were first earmarked for development in 2004, but it never happened.

A scheme was then put forward to demolish Carby House and build a 446-home complex around neighbouring Heath House, but it was then ditched in 2006, despite permission being granted.

After a survey of the buildings, developers planned to leave Carby House standing and convert both properties into 280 flats. It was passed after a planning inquiry, but money to carry out the revamp from the Thames Gateway project failed to materialise.

And another failed bid to transform them came in the form of businessman Danny Dewey, who wanted to covert Heath House into a paintballing centre in 2010, but it was the latest in a string of plans that have not been realised, until now.

Firm has carried out plenty of Southend projects

RANDALL Watts is no stranger major development projects.

Its 14-apartment Grandview, at the top of Leigh Broadway, will be completed by the end of this month, with the majority of the properties sold.

And their Courtway House development, in Hamlet Court Road, will also be completed by the end of the month.

The firm is also responsible for Albany Court, on the former Albany Laundry site, in Leigh.

Other conversions include an old cinema in Ness Road, Shoebury.

Mark Watts, the firm’s managing director, said: “I’ve got previous experience as a bricklayer, and the firm has a long history in Southend, so we know what we are doing with buildings.”

Randall Watts has been involved in developments across for more than 15 years, and also has a branch in London.