Redevelopment plans for Mountbatten House are being changed to cut costs.

The empty office block in Chatham, above the Pentagon Centre, is set to become 164 flats.

Plans included a rooftop restaurant and glass lift, but these have now been axed due to rising construction costs.

Local award-winning chain Café Nucleus was set to run the restaurant.

An application has been submitted to change previously-approved proposals, which will see the restaurant replaced by a larger rooftop terrace for residents.

A planning report states: “Spiralling costs have resulted in the need to amend the scheme to reduce costs.

“With the fire regulations for the glass lift and rooftop restaurant it was clear that this element of the scheme would have a considerable impact on overall scheme viability.”

Medway Council bought the 12-storey block for nearly £2 million in 2021, having sat empty since 2008.

Plans were approved in 2021 and the project is being delivered by the council’s housing firm, Medway Development Company (MDC).

Initial work, including asbestos removal, has been completed – but the project is facing delays.

Last June, a tenth-floor window fell to the ground and led to a contractor quitting from its contract with MDC.

The estimated cost of the redevelopment is around £39.5 million, up from £30 million due to construction inflation.