Thomas Rees after the 2021 reopening

THE landlords of a pub that was rebuilt after being unlawfully demolished have applied to turn its upstairs into three flats.

Carlton Vale Limited have submitted an application to the council saying the upstairs of the pub in Carlton Vale, Maida Vale, is “surplus to requirements”.

The pub’s managers, Thomas Rees and Benjamin Martin, are backing the proposed changes.

In a joint statement they said: “As part of the rebuilding of the Carlton Tavern it was agreed with the council that the kitchen, which was originally located at the first floor, could be relocated to the basement in place of the changing and shower rooms which were there in the original building and no longer required.

“The relocation of the kitchen facilities into the basement has resulted in a better layout and enabled us to consolidate all our floor space at ground-floor and basement level, thereby improving our operations. Our lease only comprises the ground and basement floors of the building and we have no plans currently to occupy upper floors.

“On this basis, we support the proposals and see no reason why they should be refused. These works should not impact the pub’s trading in any detrimental fashion.”

Carlton Vale Limited is, according to Companies House, run by communications expert, Osnat Golan, after Ori Calif resigned from the firm in January 2021.

The wreckage in 2015

Mr Calif was the director of CLTX Ltd, the company that previously owned the pub at the time it was knocked down back in 2015.

The planning statement described the upper floors as “redundant” and “surplus to requirements” while also being “a key opportunity for optimisation”, and added: “The proposals will deliver three new residential units, helping to address partially unmet housing need in the borough.”

It added: “The proposals will deliver a high quality environment for future occupiers, with suitable privacy, outlook, daylight/sunlight, and noise insulation.”

The rebuilt Carlton Tavern reopened in April 2021 on the day that year’s Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

It was six years after the pub was knocked down without permission from Westminster City Council before Grade II-listed status was about to be approved by Historic England.

More than 5,000 residents mobilised to persuade the council to act.

A planning inquiry was launched and the following year confirmed the pub’s owners, then CLTX, were ordered to rebuild it “in facsimile” from its red bricks to the distinctive tiled pub name.

After a series of challenges and appeals, the pub was rebuilt and reopened in 2021.

In March 2021 the pub’s leaseholders told Extra ahead of the reopening: “It sounds more mad than it is.

“There are opportunities that exist. The property market has started to shift, the power has started to shift between landlords and leaseholders.

“Pubs are now coming up with reasonable conversations about leases. We are incredibly optimistic.”

The Carlton was owned by the founder of Pizza Express restaurant chain, Peter Boizou, who died in 2018. He was a big hockey fan and had set up shower cubicles in the basement for the Hampstead and Westminster Hockey Club, who play at the nearby Paddington Rec.