Flats plan at historic Phoenix Ale House in Inverness
THE owners of one of the oldest buildings in Academy Street are seeking permission for a major renovation.
George MacLean has lodged an application for listed building consent to create six flats on the first and second floors above the Phoenix Ale House bar and restaurant.
No change of use permission should be required for the work as these floors were flats for many years and only ceased to be residences in the early 1980s.
They have been unoccupied since.
Mr MacLean said: “It is a building listed class B by Historic Scotland, so any work that is done will have to be sympathetic to the history and age of the building.
“It will involve tidying up the upper floors and creating a sought-after facility in a part of Academy Street that has fast become a growth area.”
Mr MacLean, who has been in the licensed trade all his working life, said that the cost of the project could be approaching £1 million.
He added: “At one point I considered an application to the Academy Street Project that had access to money to breathe new life into the street, but as I was in the throes of selling my previous bar in the city, the Castle Tavern, I never went down that road.”
Mr MacLean returned to the Phoenix last year, which is attached to Flames bar and restaurant, after first buying the popular hostelry in the early 1980s.
He later sold it to Bass Breweries, who in turn sold it to Scottish Brewers, who introduced a back bar and restaurant.
The building dates from the early 19th century and it is understood it was a town house and then a girls’ school. It became a pub in 1894 although today’s frontage came later.
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