The opening of commercial premises in the centre of Carmarthen has been described as one of the final pieces of the jigsaw in the redevelopment of that part of the town.
The Coracle Offices in St Catherine Street were built with the support of the South West Wales Property Development Fund whose lead authority is Carmarthenshire County Council.
The offices, almost opposite the entrance to St Catherine’s Walk, were officially opened on Friday.
The development was built by Bassett & MacGregor Ltd and the architect was Sauro Architectural Design. The total cost of the development was more than £666,000 and the PDF grant was almost £300,000.
It is the second successful scheme completed by the developer BMA SSAS and built by award winning local Carmarthen builder, Bassett & MacGregor. In November, 2012 BMA SSAS officially opened their first PDF scheme at Coracle Court, Quayside in Carmarthen.
The new building accommodates nine jobs and is home to Eagle Accountancy Ltd, Power for Wales Inc Ltd, and Steven Rees Wealth Management Ltd. It has achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating for sustainability and is self sufficient for energy.
Director Andrew Bassett said: “This was a difficult site to redevelop and due to the cost and complexity we could not have gone ahead without the support of the Property Development Fund.”
The plaque was unveiled by executive board member for regeneration Cllr Meryl Gravell who said: “These are excellent premises and I’m delighted that the Property Development Fund has been able to support this scheme. It is important that small to medium sized businesses are able to find suitable accommodation in Carmarthenshire so that they can help build the local economy and these premises are ideal.”
Carmarthenshire County Council Chairman Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said he was pleased to see schemes such as Coracle Offices being developed in Carmarthenshire and it fitted in with the 10-year plans of the Carmarthen Town Forum.
“I would like to congratulate everyone involved. Here in St Catherine Street we have an excellent development,” he said.
Cllr, Alun Lenny, one of the two local members, said: “Here is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw in the regeneration of this part of Carmarthen town centre. What was here before was an eyesore and now there is an impressive and attractive business premises.
“It is so gratifying to see that the premises are already occupied from day one.”
The South West Wales consortium of local authorities, (Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea) is working in partnership with the Welsh Government to deliver a Property Development Fund, administered by Carmarthenshire County Council in its role as lead body.
The scheme provides financial assistance for the construction of industrial and commercial property with the primary aim of creating capacity for employment in selected strategic areas of South West Wales.
Funding for this programme has been secured from the European Union via the Convergence programme.
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