Controversial development site sold in seven-figure deal

Supermarket chain Lidl has bought a site in Alvaston which had been earmarked for a controversial eight-storey apartment complex.

Salloway Property Consultants sold the Raynesway site to Lidl on behalf of a private pension fund for a seven-figure sum.

It had been on offer to Dutch company Blom International who were given approval in 2017 to build 122 apartments despite more than 400 objections.

Blom International had named the complex Entrada Derby and had said one block would be eight storeys high and the other three.

But the plans attracted 437 objections with many residents opposed to the proposed height of the scheme, while some of the site’s immediate neighbours claimed their privacy would be compromised.

A spokesman for the developer said at the time that the proposal was on a brownfield site and suitable for residential development – a view backed by council planning officers, who had recommended the plans be approved.

A vote on the plans was split five-five and the planning committee’s chair, Councillor Shiraz Khan, gave the scheme the go-ahead with his casting vote.

It is not clear why Blom International pulled out of the site but Lidl, which was represented by Phil Daniels of FHP in the transaction, clearly believes there will be a strong footfall for its supermarket.

In June, Lidl announced it was opening 40 new stores, creating 1,500 jobs in the process as part of a £500m expansion plan over five years.

Steve Salloway, managing director of Salloway Property Consultants, said: “We are delighted to get this deal over the line and I am proud to say that it has been something of a coup to land such a big name.

“I am sure that Lidl will be as popular with the people of Alvaston as it is across its other stores in Derby and beyond.

“This is a great solution for a brownfield site which has long been vacant.”