See how Bury St Edmunds' former Post Office site has been transformed into luxury apartments

A multi-million pound development which has seen Bury St Edmunds' former Post Office transformed into luxury apartments has today been unveiled.

All but one of the 12 apartments at The Old Post Office in 17-18 Cornhill have been reserved and interest has been expressed in the two commercial ground floor units.

After a four year process, the project was officially handed over to West Suffolk Council last week.

The apartments have open plan kitchens and boast town centre views, with the one bedroom flats costing around £185,000, while the most expensive apartment costs £750,000.

Suffolk County Council chairman Cllr Robert Everitt said: "It's one of the iconic buildings of the town and it was important to keep the façade of the building.

"It's a wonderful addition to the town now. To have the 12 apartments and the retail shop units is going to be good for the town. It's lovely to have people living in the town centre that will use the shops, restaurants and cafés and keep the town vibrant.

"It's been a long time coming but you can't rush good things."

The development maintains the Victorian front of the former Post Office and widens Market Thoroughfare by more than 50 per cent.

The council bought the site for £1.6 million after the Post Office decided in 2017 to move to WH Smith. Councillors backed a £6.72 million investment into the site in April 2018 and construction began in September 2020.

Cllr David Roach, portfolio holder for planning at West Suffolk Council said: "It's great to be able to see the commercial units ready to let and the one remaining apartment is still open to offers. It's fantastic to see the Victorian front, which is such a lovely piece of the town's heritage, has been kept and plays an integral part of a development which brings more town centre living and commercial opportunities as well."

It is hoped the completion of the development will help inspire other businesses in St Andrew's Street South to improve the appearance of their shop fronts.

A spokesman from West Suffolk Council said: "This project follows up from the town centre master plan which was shaped by 8,000 public comments. The project itself is about keeping that Victorian front in Cornhill which isn't listed but ensuring that was brought back into economic use, widening the walkway and creating a new front for St Andrew's Street South.

"Hopefully it will encourage other landowners and developers to over time improve the street scene there and make it a bit more attractive and better connected between parts of the town centre.

"It's about showing what can be done, through our development of this site. Obviously it's then down to other landowners to look at how they can improve some of their own buildings and in turn create more income themselves. It's something over time and by no means overnight.

"The vision is that over time, in line with the town centre master plan which is about improving St Andrew's Street South as well, that it will encourage that sort of investment by others."

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership was awarded £32.1m through the Government’s Getting Building Fund, including £2.75m for the Cornhill project.