AN ICONIC former chocolate headquarters has been chosen as the site for an innovative new care village.

The empty Terry’s head office building in York is to be the site of a proposed new £7m development which is said will offer “aspirational quality” accommodation for residents needing care.

Plans for the listed building will shortly be submitted to the City of York Council and, if approved, the development is expected to open in January 2017.

Springfield Healthcare Group is behind the development. The renovation of the building, which will retain its historic features and structures, will form part of a wider programme of development for the entire site, near York Racecourse, in conjunction with Henry Boot Developments.

The new village will provide 82 care suites and eight luxury apartments for residents. The centrepiece for the development will be a restored glass atrium and will feature an internal “market square” with cafes, street lighting, outdoor dining, shops and other facilities.

The healthcare group said plans will offer innovative dementia care and “unparalleled accommodation” for residents needing living assistance, allowing them to “wander the luxurious surroundings safely, in an ambient environment which sensitively merges indoors and outdoors”.

Graeme Lee, chief executive of Springfield, said: “We are delighted to be bringing this beautiful building back to life. Its location in the heart of the York community will offer leading elderly care for residents in a thriving local community.

“The development gives us an opportunity to revolutionise how dementia care is provided, prioritising support for this challenging condition.”

Guy Van Dichele, interim director of adult social care at the City of York Council, said: “Our aim is to ensure that older people in York have access to a wide variety of high-quality care and support options to meet their different, and changing, needs. Quality dementia care and support is an essential strand of our ambition to make York a dementia-friendly city.”

It comes after City of York Council conditionally approved a scheme by Henry Boot Developments and PJ Livesey to create 173 apartments at the Grade II-listed former chocolate factory off Bishopthorpe Road.

Hamer Boot from Henry Boot Developments said: “This is another significant step forward in the restoration and regeneration of this important site.

“Springfield Healthcare has proven experience in sensitively restoring historic buildings and we are confident that, if approved, these plans will create a fitting gateway to the site. This development agreement follows quickly off the back of PJ Livesey’s successful planning approval last week for the multi-storey factory building. "