Westwood Park’s Wide Appeal

by | Dec 19, 2016 | Case Study, Community, Featured, Past Developments, Sales Information

19

December, 2016
WESTWOOD PARK’S WIDE APPEAL

We visited Westwood Park and fell in love with it right away

The wealth of character in the conversion properties at our Westwood Park development in Beverley, and its position a short stroll from the heart of the market town, is attracting buyers from all across the UK.

RELOCATING
A prime example of the sites expansive draw is Ken and Denise Pick’s story, whom recently relocated from their native North East to move into one of the penthouse apartments in the site’s original white brick villa Beaver Lodge – now re named as ‘The Mansion House’.

Ken said: “We had decided to downsize and had been looking at bungalows when I spotted Westwood Park on the internet. Our daughter lives in Beverley and our son in York, but we had not heard about the scheme.”

The couple quickly organised a house-hunting weekend and were talked through the development by our dedicated on-site sales team.

BUILDINGS SAVED
All seven of the site’s heritage buildings, as well as a Grade II listed stone entrance archway, have been saved from demolition, offering a mix of homes from one bedroom apartments to a three bedroom detached house

in a walled garden. There are also a range of new build family sized homes with spacious open plan living and clever detail.

With their own four bedroom detached home on the market the Picks wanted something more manageable and were delighted to opt for a two-bedroom penthouse apartment.

Ken explained: “We visited Westwood Park and fell in love with it right away – there is nothing to compare for quality and location. We spent a couple of years abroad and lived in an apartment there so were comfortable with the idea. The only stipulation was that it had to have some outside space.

We bought off plan in February and actually only saw the apartment five weeks before moving in. We absolutely love it. The exposed beams are wonderful and the terrace is much bigger than we thought it would be. It is a really lovely place to sit out and we can see the whole of The Westwood as well as Beverley Minster and St Anne’s church in the other direction. The whole development is very well done and it is quite lovely driving through the archway into this little sanctuary.”

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Sweet memories for former Terry’s worker.

by | Dec 19, 2016 | Case Study, Community, Featured, Past Developments

23

November, 2016

SWEET MEMORIES OF TERRY’S

We hear from a former worker of the Terry’s Chocolate Factory in York

Westwood Park

The world famous chocolate empire of Terry’s has left a strong legacy in York and a strong affection amongst many former workers.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Former employee Liz Calpin vividly remembers walking through the distinctive gates onto the vast Bishopsthorpe Road site for the first time as a 15-year-old girl ready to start work as a Junior Clerk.

Recalling her first impressions Liz said: “I worked in the administration building with its grand staircase and glass dome and I felt very grown up.”

She eventually clocked up ten happy years at Terry’s in total, only leaving in 1976 upon the birth of her first child. Such is the pull of the iconic site, Liz and her husband Ray are now back – this time living in one of the luxury apartments in the converted Factory Building.

Liz explains: “I loved my time at Terry’s, although to be honest in the beginning it was just somewhere I went in the day that funded my social life! I loved dancing! Ray and I met at the Court School of Dancing.

Even though I left forty years ago I have always kept strong links with Terry’s. There was a group of five of us who worked together and we have remained very close friends, still meeting every six weeks or so.

And since it closed it was one of our favourite places to walk. We’d park on the road and walk across the Knavesmire. It was so sad to see the building empty and starting to decay.”

DOWNSIZING
The couple lived in a three bedroom detached house and with Ray now retired from the teaching profession they had already been considering downsizing when plans to convert the Art Decor Factory Building into apartments was announced.

Liz said: “We’d looked at the new build apartments at the front of the site and knew they weren’t for us, but when we went to the P J Livesey launch day and looked at the properties at The Residence we both looked at each other and smiled.

We knew we could happily live here. The whole development is beautiful and the views are stunning.

We had our house on the market but when it did not sell straight away we took good advice and decided to use it to raise the extra money we needed and then rent it out. It all worked out perfectly.”

TRANSFORMATION
The couple bought a two-bedroom mezzanine apartment on the third floor at the back of the building with a wide terrace overlooking the racecourse and towards the River Ouse.

Liz said: “The living, dining area is actually bigger than within our previous house and the open plan kitchen has everything you could possibly want. We plan to buy new furniture for the balcony as it is easily big enough to sit out and enjoy the view – it was quite spectacular on bonfire night!

We love coming through the gates and driving up the boulevard and the lobby feels like a 5* hotel and it is beautifully kept. The P J Livesey ethos is obviously to develop something to be classically Beautiful and maintain the high standard. It really does tick all the boxes and the grand children Lyla and Zak love coming to visit.

I only actually worked in The Factory building itself for two memorable weeks when the dispatch lady was on holiday, but our son-in-law spent summers working for Terry’s and actually remembers working on the third floor. We cannot wait for him to come and see the transformation. People are fascinated by the building, it is such a landmark symbol for York and everyone wants to see what it has now become.

We’ve only been here a matter of weeks but it already feels very much like home – a place of happy memories.”

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Our Proud Listed Building Legacy

by | Oct 20, 2016 | Community, News & Events, P J Livesey News, Past Developments

20

October, 2016

OUR PROUD LISTED BUILDING LEGACY

PJ Livesey Group’s on going passion for Britain’s listed heritage properties

Lancaster Moor was in the spotlight in a recent feature in the Sunday Times Homes section looking at the PJ Livesey Group’s on going passion for Britain’s listed heritage properties.

Journalist Rebecca Myers was given a tour of the prestigious St. James Park development at Didsbury before sitting down in one of the show homes for a chat with Peter Livesey and daughter Georgina.

The feature focussed on the company’s skill in converting unique buildings and bringing them back to life and the commitment and passion of every single member of the PJ Livesey team.

The former Manchester Metropolitan University site is the company’s 50th development since Peter began developing 35 years ago, and we have tallied up the total number of historic buildings saved to an impressive 161! It would also appear that buying a P J Livesey period property period is a sound financial investment.

Nick Brimelow, from Didsbury agents JP & Brimelow advises demand is much stronger for heritage properties within both the rental and sales markets. He said: “The prime example is the now completed PJ Livesey development in West Didsbury, Didsbury Gate as this offers beautifully converted 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in the same locality as numerous new build developments offering apartments of a similar square footage.

“As a rule of thumb a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom apartment in Didsbury Gate would receive circa £1100pcm in rental compared to a similar modern flat which would only achieve circa £950pcm with an identical square footage. There is clearly a 10% disparity between the two types of property and in some cases even more. “What is also interesting is that tenants who initially insist on finding two bed properties will accept a one bedroom apartment instead if it is situated within a heritage block but not the other way around. This clearly confirms the demand for conversion properties significantly out weighs that of a new build scheme as well as the fact that the yield is also higher.

“This is mirrored in property sales. In my experience there has always been a greater demand for heritage/conversion properties.

“Buyers may traditionally pay more for the period properties but they enjoy a greater capital growth and demand much higher rental yields. It therefore sometimes makes more sense for a buyer to acquire a smaller heritage property than a larger modern unit as over a period of several years they will experience a greater increase in value whilst achieving a similar rental income despite the smaller square footage.

“This is mirrored in property sales. In my experience there has always been a greater demand for heritage/conversion properties.

“Buyers may traditionally pay more for the period properties but they enjoy a greater capital growth and demand much higher rental yields. It therefore sometimes makes more sense for a buyer to acquire a smaller heritage property than a larger modern unit as over a period of several years they will experience a greater increase in value whilst achieving a similar rental income despite the smaller square footage.

“The rental and sales values for both the one and two bedroom apartments within Didsbury Gate have increased at a much greater rate than comparable modern units within exactly the same location.

“If you therefore were to implement the same theory to the St James Park scheme it is entirely understandable that there has been such a high level of demand for the converted apartments which are on offer. “

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Tough Mudder Challenge 2016

by | Jun 22, 2016 | Community, News & Events, P J Livesey News | 0 comments

22

June, 2016

COMPANY CHARITY CHALLENGE

The PJ Livesey group take on tough mudder

Twenty-five tackled the Tough Mudder course in Manchester and raised a truly magnificent £7,700 for the Mustard Tree charity. It was great fun, great teamwork and all for a great cause.

A Significant Donation Adrian Nottingham, CEO, of the Mustard Tree said: “We would like to thank everyone at PJ Livesey and everyone who sponsored them. This significant donation allows us to continue the work we do in supporting those who are most vulnerable. With annual increases in homelessness and poverty in Manchester, we value every offer of support and every donation, being acutely aware that we couldn’t continue to make a difference in the lives of those who come to us for help without the partnership of like-minded people.”

We hope to be working with the Mustard Tree again in the future to support the amazing work the charity does.

A huge thank you to all our intrepid staff who took part in this year’s very tough, very muddy, company charity challenge.

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Time Capsule Found at Otley Site

by | Jan 25, 2016 | Community, Interesting Finds | 0 comments

25

January, 2016

TIME CAPSULE FOUND AT OTLEY SITE

You never know what you will find working on heritage buildings

We recently discovered something very special at our site in Otley, West Yorkshire.

When the foundation stone for the day hospital building was being carefully moved by stonemason Simon Bell and labourer Tristan Wrigley a large glass time capsule was revealed in a specially created hollow in the stone.

INCREDIBLE FIND
The jar had not been touched since August 1905 when the stone was laid by Jonathan Peate, a local mill owner and philanthropist who funded the building of the hospital as an extension to the main workhouse building.

We invited young school pupils from Ashfield Primary and Whartons Primary to be on hand when the jar was opened and to help explore its contents.

Wearing special gloves they revealed six newspapers of the day: The Yorkshire Post; Wharfedale and Airedale Observer; Leeds and Yorkshire Mercury, The Wharfedale Times, Yorks Daily Observer and The Times; three coins and a notebook.

It was all recorded by local BBC news and radio.

RESPECTING THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDINGS
Georgina Livesey said: “The foundation stone is being relocated to create a new entrance way and was being moved very carefully so the jar was undamaged. The children were as fascinated as we were to see what was inside and it really was a special moment.

“The newspapers have been preserved and we will rebury the capsule, this time filled with items donated by the children, when the stone is re-laid.

“It is important to respect the history of the buildings we are working on and fascinating to learn about the people involved in their original construction and to then add our own mark.”

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