Plans to be unveiled for King's House at public exhibition

Mortar Nova Grand Avenue bought the building in October from Brighton and Hove City Council for £26 million, and said its plans for housing on the site will go on show next month.

Alan Coleman, co-director of Mortar Nova Grand Avenue, said: “We are proposing to restore King’s House to its former glory, refurbishing the Grade II listed building and re-introducing some of its original external features, including changing its use back to its original intention, which is residential homes.

“We are also proposing a high quality new building in place of the 1980s extension and we are keen to hear local people’s views on our draft plans, which will be ready to view in January.”

After moving out of King’s House last year, council staff now work from the refurbished Hove Town Hall, in a move which the council said will save £2 million a year.

The Hove building, on the seafront between Grand and Second Avenue, was first built in 1870 as a series of terraces that were joined together to form the Princes Hotel. It was repurposed during the war when it became HMS Lizard and was used for training of service personnel.

After the war the building was purchased by the South Eastern Electricity Board and converted into offices for their use. It was refurbished and an underground car park was added as well as a four-storey rear extension in the 1980s. It was vacated in the late 1980s and remained empty until Brighton and Hove City Council moved in when it was formed in 1996.

The public exhibition will run from 6pm to 9.30pm on Friday, January 26 and 10am to 4pm on Saturday, January 27, at Cornerstone Community Centre, Hove.