City of Wolverhampton’s £55 million Westside scheme today (Friday) reached a major milestone.
Urban&Civic has signed the official development agreement with the council for the 6.4 acres of land at the heart of the city.
Enabling works continue on the leisure-led mixed use scheme, and strong demand from occupiers means construction on the first phase remains on track to start in early 2018.
Detailed plans continue to be worked on, with a multiplex cinema, 50,000 square feet of additional leisure space, new restaurants covering 40,000 square feet, a 100-plus bed hotel, and a multi-storey car park lined up for phase one.
Phase two will deliver more than 300 new city centre homes and 50,000 square feet of retail and leisure space.
Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “This is another important step for this fantastic city centre scheme - and an exciting moment for the city.
“Plans are progressing well on Westside and before we know it construction will be underway.
“It has already attracted unprecedented demand from occupiers.
“Urban&Civic possess an excellent track record in delivering comparable high-quality schemes in the UK and have the financial support in place.
“There is a general enthusiasm around the Westside opportunity, and optimism concerning the groundswell of regeneration activity across the city, where £3.7 billion of investment is on site or in the pipeline.
“The outstanding proposals put forward by Urban&Civic perfectly meet our expectations of a regenerated Wolverhampton.”
Construction on phase one of the project is expected to be complete by early 2020. It encompasses land between Penn Road Island and Salop Street, including the current School Street and Peel Street car parks and the area around Market Square.
Phase two incorporates parts of land between Salop Street and Darlington Street, including the Fold Street car park. Works on this section of the development are likely to be completed in 2022.
Philip Leech, Development Director for Urban&Civic, said: “Signing the development agreement with the council is an important milestone for this landmark project and we are already well underway with our plans for delivery.
“The council is a very supportive partner with a clear vision for the City of Wolverhampton and we will be submitting the first planning application this summer.
“Westside is a perfect fit for Urban&Civic’s commercial development arm and we look forward to building upon the success of what we have achieved with Feethams in Darlington.”