£4m fund agreed to redevelopment Derby city centre

The former Debenhams store in Derby

A £4m funding allocation has been agreed ‘in principle’ by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, to redevelop a Derby City area.

Derby City Council submitted a proposal to the LEP’s Infrastructure and Investment Board, for the residential and commercial redevelopment of the unused Becketwell Regeneration Site in Derby City centre. This site includes the former Debenhams store (pictured) and Duckworth Square.

Council planners have made a number of unsuccessful attempts to redevelop the site through private sector means. It sees redevelopment of the site as an important part of its City Centre Masterplan, bringing it in line with the commercial vibrancy of surrounding city areas.

D2N2 has now agreed that £4m from its current Local Growth Fund allocation (of a total £192m) can be committed ‘in principle’ to the project. This would allow the purchase of the former Debenhams store site and related land, from current owners Intu and the Ford Family Trust, followed by site preparation works, to make it more viable for development by commercial partners.

When completed, Derby City Council estimates the Becketwell site project will produce:

99 new homes
142 full-time equivalent jobs
£29m in investment levered in from other public and private sector sources
3hectares of redeveloped brownfield land
1,336 sq m of commercial floor space.

It is expected that work could start on the site in 2018, with completion of the development programme by 2021.

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