Visitors will feel right at home as offices are transformed into luxury apartments

A TIRED old office building that was on the verge of being demolished has been transformed into serviced apartments by a seven-figure makeover.

Millhouse Group bought St Helen's Court eight months ago and has converted 15,000 sq ft of second-rate office space into 18 luxury one- and two-bedroom suites.

Named Luxe, the complex opened for business on Friday.

Interest from corporate clients has been such that the company has now bought land at the back of St Helen's Court to develop a second building to feature a further 20 serviced apartments and a luxury spa complex.

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The second complex represents another £1 million-plus investment for the Millhouse Group, best known for developing serviced office space. It is hoped that construction work will begin on site this year with the new-build complex being open for business by Christmas.

Millhouse Group commercial director Valerie Bradley said: "Our serviced offices have been successful so we believed that serviced apartments was a natural next to take and when we heard that the owners of this building were thinking of demolishing it, we looked at it and decided to buy it.

"It is in the perfect location, on the edge of the Cathedral Quarter, within a five-minute walk of restaurants, bars and shops and to have car parking so close to the city centre is a big advantage for us."

Serviced apartments are self-contained flats that, like hotel rooms, can be booked for a day, weeks or months.

They are often used by business people working away from home.

Each Luxe apartment features a fully equipped kitchen, a living room, dining area, Sky Sports, free wifi and bathroom. All have different colour schemes and the two-bed suites all have either a bathroom and a shower room or two shower rooms.

"The furniture has been purpose-designed to make the best use of the space and we aim to deliver the service of a hotel alongside the luxury of home," said Ms Bradley.

"There are other serviced apartments in Derby but none finished to this specification or with this amount of space and none so close to the city centre with their own secure car parking."

The venture is employing six people but additional staff will be required as business takes off. Should the St Helen's Street scheme prove successful, the Millhouse Group is prepared to invest further and is looking for further buildings to convert into luxury apartments.