A PROMINENT town centre building in Aberdare has been redeveloped into flats and a coffee shop.
The old Rates building in High Street has been turned into 10 modern apartments which already have tenants and Coco’s Coffee and Kitchen which has expanded its operations in the town by opening in the new commercial unit.
The Grade II Listed, early to mid-19th Century building has great historical significance becoming known more recently as the former Rates building, having been converted into council offices and used for rates collection in the 1960s by Aberdare Urban District Council.
Vacated around 1990, the building became privately-owned and remained empty for 35 years, with its prospects for redevelopment reducing as it fell into disrepair.
But Morris Property Developments Ltd acquired the building in 2022, and Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council supported their application to the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Programme towards a major redevelopment of the building with this funding coming alongside funding from the developer itself.
Local business Coco’s, which is already a popular name within Aberdare town centre having operated a coffee and candles shop from Canon Street, has secured the new retail unit at the former Rates building.
This has enabled the company to move the cafe element of its business into larger premises and allowed its Canon Street branch to build on the success of its in-house manufacture and sales of candles and room fragrance products.
