A property developer whose past projects include work on one of the world’s tallest buildings has unveiled plans for a care-home-to-flats conversion in Aberdeen.
It is the latest development in the Granite City for Cater Group, which has its roots in Malaysia but is currently focused on opportunities in the UK and run from an office on Great Northern Road, Aberdeen.
The sizeable piece of land lends itself to some exciting opportunities in a premium location.”
Ewan Gibson, Cater Group
Cater and Neil Rothnie Architecture have together filed a change of use application to transform Maryfield House, a former care home, on Whinhill Road, Ferryhill, into 26 residential flats.
The vacant property, at the junction with Fonthill Road, was recently acquired by Cater for an undisclosed sum.
The plan is to extend and convert it into one, two and three-bedroom flats. Maryfield Lodge, which Cater also owns on the site, would be demolished to make way for the new development.
Maryfield House falls within the Ferryhill conservation area, although neither the property or neighbouring buildings are listed.
Cater spokesman Ewan Gibson said: “With control over both Maryfield House and Maryfield Lodge as well as the land to the rear, the sizeable piece of land lends itself to some exciting opportunities in a premium location.”
The project will help to regenerate a tired-looking site and “get it looking a lot better”, Mr Gibson said, adding there was already a demolition warrant in place for the lodge.
Although Cater has interests in both commercial and residential property, its recent focus in Aberdeen has been on housing and mixed use developments.
Atholl House plans
In February the group unveiled plans for a 250-flat development at Atholl House, which would also include around 16,150sq ft for commercial and retail space.
Demolition of the 1970s building – home at one time or another to oil and gas firms and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service – was voted through by city councillors in 2018 – paving the way for student flats, a hotel and new public square between Guild Street and Bridge Street.
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Those grand plans for regenerating the site were eventually abandoned but Cater’s redevelopment proposal offers the building, once branded an “ugly eyesore”, a chance of a new lease of life.
Cater’s past projects in the north-east include The Square Bar and The Square Hotel, in Kintore, as well as the Little Malay and Asiana Kitchen restaurants and Two Brothers Pizza takeaway, all in Aberdeen.
The Cater family was involved in many large-scale construction projects in Asia, including the Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which were for a while the tallest buildings in the world, before targeting the UK market, in 1999.
Cater’s website says the company, which is led by senior managing partner and chief operations officer Steve Choi, “aims to become one of the UK’s top major developers, working on large-scale developments all over the country.”
Current projects for the group include turning former public toilets on Duff Street, Turriff, into a hot food takeaway and residential developments in Sandhaven, near Fraserburgh, and Dundee.
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