£4.2m shopping centre expansion gets underway
A SHOPPING centre is due for a major upgrade when £4.2m extension and improvement works begin next month.
The expansion of Grimsby’s Freshney Place Shopping Centre will create hundreds of jobs for the region, with 250 construction jobs and 100 retail jobs in the pipeline.
The long process of applications and negotiations started in 2014, and now the shopping centre will be extended 27,000 sq ft.
When complete, the work will more than triple the size of the town’s Primark store, from 10,500 sq ft to 34,200 sq ft of retail space across two floors.
“This has been a project long in development, but it was important that every detail was carefully considered and the plan absolutely right before the work could begin,” said Freshney Place Shopping Centre director Amanda Austin. “This huge development will help underline and strengthen Grimsby’s shopping credentials, and undoubtedly attract more shoppers not just to Freshney Place, but also the town.”
The redevelopment will see new retail space being created at the centre from the car park and storage areas, with work scheduled for completion in 2017.
Beginning in just a few weeks, the construction work will be carried out by HCM Projects, part of Yorkshire-based Harris Construction Management.
Ray James, Asset Manager with BMO Real Estate Partners, said the beginning of the work marked the start of a phase of significant redevelopment at the shopping centre.
