Developers will turn the former Allied Irish Bank on Collingwood Street in Newcastle city centre into an upmarket restaurant
A former city centre bank on Newcastle's 'Diamond Strip' is to become a bar and restaurant.
The empty grade-II listed building on Collingwood Street, opposite Perdu, will be turned into a restaurant for 140 diners, with 12 plush flats on the upper floors.
In the 19th Century the building was last occupied by Allied Irish Bank until 2013, but it has been vacant ever since and the upper floor office suites that have been derelict even longer, having been empty since he late 1990s.
The former banking hall and the manager's office are earmarked for a restaurant and bar area with room for around 146 covers, spread across the ground floor and mezzanine floor, with the manager's room doubling as a private dining area as part of the £2.5m revamp.
The proposals, by a North East development firm Union Property Services, were approved by Newcastle City Council's planning committee on Friday.
Planners were told significant work had gone into balancing the need to maintain the historic features of the building, while bringing it back into use and ensuring it did not continue to "deteriorate".
Compromises included allowing for double glazed windows and losing some features like cornices and skirting, but stopped short of some of what the developer had initially hoped for, like dropping he original windows to a lower level o allow a view into the building from the street.
The planners noted that on the 'Diamond Strip', an area that is known for its bars, the proposals were not for a "vertical drinking estabblishment" - a club or bar - but a sit-down restaurant with a bar attached, which they said was welcomes from a pub;ic safety perspective.
The application received some objections, notably from the residents of the nearby Stamp Exchange building, which also contains apartments.
While the residents welcomed the idea of another set of apartments in the building, they were concerned about the privacy of their homes, and the disruption on the back lane Denton Chare.
A former police officer and Stamp Exchange resident Julie Crick addressed the committee, urging them to put safety measures in place to ensure people would not to be able to climb up scaffolding to reach the top of the building while works are taking place - citing incidents of a similar nature which have happened in the area.
Ms Crick added: "The thoughtof this restaurant and everything it will end up depositing into Denton Chare, the noise and the smells and the vibration, fills us with absolute horror."
Planners said rubbish from the restaurant would be kept in the basement of the building, and should not worsen issues of litter in the back lane.
Ms Crick had asked the planners to ensure that the upper roof terraces which will be attached to two of the flats that would not intrude on the privacy of nearby gardens, and the committee altered the application slightly to reflect this.
Helen Marks, speaking on behalf of the owners of the property, said the refurbishment would contain "residential accommodation of a high standard that is 50not currently found in the city".