A DRAB corner of York could be smartened up by a developer's bid to revitalise the shell of a city centre store.

The Oakgate Group has unveiled a blueprint for revamping the long-boarded-up former Safeways on the ground floor of the huge building, including a multi-storey car park, in Tanner Row.

Five shops would be created, along with 32 ground-floor, short-stay parking spaces. The three upper floors of car parking, overlooking George Hudson Street, would remain.

There is already planning consent for the entire building to be demolished and replaced with a six-storey hotel with meeting rooms and leisure facilities. This permission stands until January 2007.

Members of City of York Council's planning and transport (city centre area) sub-committee will consider the bid on April 7 when they are being recommended to back the proposal.

An officer's report to members states that the proposal "would provide a more vibrant and contemporary appearance to the building, enhancing its architectural role in the street scene and adding to the vitality of the area through the reintroduction of individual shop fronts at street level".

It would also "lift the somewhat drab and outdated appearance of the building and enhance the character and appearance of this part of the conservation area".

If the application wins support, there would be a dedicated servicing area for the shops while one of the units, on the Tanner Row frontage, would extend into part of the first floor.

The exterior brick cladding would be stripped and replaced with terracotta coloured metal cladding.

The full height columns - a feature of the George Hudson Street frontage, would be kept. The Oakgate Group won praise from traders back in 2002 when it announced it had bought the building which included the Tanner Row public car park.

The car park had a reputation for being an eyesore - dark, dirty, neglected and unsafe.

The group immediately shut the facility for a major revamp which saw building staff clearing away vagrants' sleeping bags and hypodermic needles from the car park.

The Oakgate Group then took over the running of the car park from City of York Council, the leaseholder, on a three-year agreement while studying options for development of the site.

The group said these could include a hotel, shops and offices - but would include an element of public car parking.

Updated: 10:11 Thursday, March 31, 2005