NWDA buys up Warrington site for redevelopment
TIME Square in Warrington town centre has been bought by the North West Regional Development Agency, and earmarked for redevelopment by Warrington Borough Council.
The 1.2 hectare retail site is considered to be key to the redevelopment of Warrington’s Bridge Street Quarter, a project which the NWDA says could attract up to £80m of private sector investment into Warrington.
The current site, adjacent to the market hall, is currently retail led with around twenty retail units and four small offices and a surface car park and makes up around a quarter of the main Bridge Street Quarter scheme.
Adjacent sites are already owned by the council, and the acquisition of Time Square is the first step towards assembling a sizeable area which the council could offer to the private sector for the development of offices, retail, leisure and hotels.
Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said: “Warrington is a growth town, it has excellent transport links and plenty of out-of-town development, but the huge potential of the town centre has so far been missed.
“The Golden Square shopping centre has proved town centre development in Warrington can be successful but it is not matched by the office space, hotels and restaurants that a successful commercial district needs.
“Time Square is a new opportunity on a scale which can support significant regeneration, creating new high-quality leisure and office space, new jobs and levering in a considerable amount of public and private sector funding.”
Cllr Bob Barr, executive member for planning, regeneration and housing on Warrington Borough Council, said: “The Bridge Street Quarter is one of the Borough’s key regeneration aspirations and will be important to the revitalisation of the southern part of the town centre.
“We are very pleased to be working with the NWDA to bring this area forward for development to reinforce Warrington town centre’s offer. Acquiring the site means that we can now progress this important opportunity.”
The development of Time Square forms part of the Warrington Master Plan, which will steer development in the south of the town centre until 2030.
