Furniture store set to bite the dust in latest phase of city centre regeneration
REGENERATION plans for Wolverhampton’s Southside are set to take another step forward with the demolition of a former furniture store on the fringe of the city centre.
The former Cantors store is a neighbour of the former Rackhams building – latterly Netto – which was demolished last year.
Wolverhampton City Council said contractors would shortly be given the go-ahead to level the former furniture shop, which occupies the corner of Snow Hill and Cleveland Street.
It will follow final clearance of the former Netto building, which is expected to be completed this month.
Both sites will then be incorporated within the existing car parks to provide additional revenue income to the council ahead of the regeneration of the area.
The land was earmarked for a £300m city centre retail scheme which fell victim to the recession. The Summer Row project was to have covered 600,000 sq ft and been anchored by new Marks & Spencer and Debenhams stores. The city hoped it would lure shoppers back to the city having lost them to the Merry Hill complex at Brierley Hill.
The scheme was shelved five years ago and in the current climate is unlikely to be developed.
Nevertheless, the city has tried to stay positive, as evidenced by comments from David Moore, the city’s Interim Head of City Development.
He said: “Southside is looking very different as we reshape this area of the city.
“The interest generated in Westside from a large number of the UK’s leading developers and investors shows the appetite to invest in Wolverhampton.
“Southside presents another exciting development opportunity for the city centre where more than £992m of investment is either on site or in the pipeline.”
The council has recently bought land and property at 1-5 Bell Street to strengthen its landownership in the area with demolition of these properties also in the pipeline.
Across the Southside area, the £4m expansion and redevelopment of Casino 36 is advancing, with the Temple Street venue expected to open later this year. A recruitment drive for the 100 jobs being created is already under way.
