RAOB Club has new owner

Avi Aravinthan, director of Hartford-based PMG Property Services, bought the Grade II listed RAOB Club, in Witton Street, when it went to auction in December for a second time.

He hopes to convert the 4,807 sq ft building, which is 102 years old, into a number of apartments so that people can live in the town centre, but no plans have yet been drawn up.

"One thing the council is trying to encourage is for people to live in the town centre so my plan was to convert it to residential apartments," he said.

"That might not be the whole building, it may be that I need to keep some element of commercial, especially on the ground floor facing Witton Street – at the moment I'm keeping my options open.

"It's such a big building that you can't do much from a commercial point of view unless you turn it into a restaurant or all-you-can-eat of some sort.

"But with all the new stuff coming in Barons Quay there's going to be a whole lot there and I don't think the demand for restaurants is going to be in this part of Northwich.

"I think apartments will help with retail as well, especially in this part of town."

The building was designed by architect J Cawley and opened in 1913.

It was owned by the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) from 1977 until it was forced to close its doors in February 2013.

It originally housed the Constitutional Club and was the headquarters of Northwich Conservative and Unionist Association.

Avi, a dad-of-three, said the history of the building was one of the aspects that appealed to him.

"It's such an iconic building in Northwich and also the sheer size of it means it's got lots of potential," he said.

"One other main thing I really like about it is the car park at the back – to convert it to residential you need that."

Avi is an accredited landlord with Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East councils and is currently also converting former Prime Time offices in Witton Street to apartments.