Housing group in brownfield site acquisition from supermarket giant
Promenade Estates has reinforced its ‘brownfield first’ strategy with the acquisition of an 11.86 acre site in Thornton Cleveleys, north of Blackpool, from supermarket group Sainsbury’s.
The £2m deal follows a series of investments Liverpool-based Promenade has made in former industrial sites in St Helens, Ellesmere Port and Widnes as part of the company’s move away from purely commercial development into housing-led mixed-use schemes.
The acquisitions have the capacity to deliver more than 2,000 new homes.
The Thornton site, on Fleetwood Road, previously enjoyed consent for a supermarket and is now highlighted in the Wyre local plan for a mix of uses, including residential and neighbourhood retail space.
Promenade managing director Dan Hynd said: “This is a rapidly-growing and popular area with good schools.
“The site fits well with our desire to work with local authorities to help them meet their housing targets and there is scope for some neighbourhood retail provision, too.”
The site has been bought unconditionally and Hynd confirms that informal and ‘productive’ discussions have already been held with the local authority about future possible uses.
“We hope, with our partners, to begin consulting on possible uses for the site as soon as possible,” he added.
The site has been bought in conjunction with BXB Land Solutions.
Gary Goodman, of BXB, said: “This is the latest in a number of joint projects with Promenade and I’m delighted to get the deal over the line.
“We’ll be deploying our in-house planning and remediation skills to bring the site forward and work is already under way in the background so that we can hit the ground running.”
Promenade chairman Peter Hynd confirmed the company remains ‘alert’ to similar opportunities.
“We retain a substantial interest in further acquisition of brownfield land in the North West and are not cowed by any remediation challenges such sites may pose,” he said.
Colliers International were agents for the vendors. Bermans acted for Promenade on the acquisition.
