Plans in for 500,000 sq ft Wigan retail scheme

PLANS have been submitted for a £60m redevelopment of Wigan town centre.

The proposals, first mooted in November, involve partially demolishing the Galleries Shopping Centre to re-establish the town’s old street pattern.

The Victorian Makinson Arcade would be preserved and updated, and lend its name to the new area which will be called the Makinson Quarter.

A masterplan includes larger retail units, space for a cinema, gym and restaurants and proposes moving the town’s market which is part of the shopping centre but leased by the council. A planning submission said the scheme will cover 500,000 sq ft and be designed by Edinburgh-based Comprehensive Design Architects.

The arcade, the Galleries and the neighbouring Marketgate centre are part of Propinvest’s Gemini portfolio which went into administration in 2012. CBRE Loan Servicing appointed Deloitte to handle the estate which is working with Vale Retail on the plans.

Vale owns or operates six shopping centres including the Wheatsheaf in Rochdale and Prescot Shopping Centre, Merseyside.

David Molyneux, deputy leader of Wigan Council, has previously said the scheme could make the town, “the best retail destination in the North West outside of the major cities.”