First glimpse of £250m town centre regeneration
DEVELOPERS have given a flavour of what Rochdale’s £250m shopping and leisure development could look like, ahead of the submission of a planning application in the next few weeks.
While the final designs for Genr8’s Rochdale Riverside scheme have not yet been confirmed, the latest images give an idea of what it’s expected to look like.
The development is a key part of Rochdale town centre’s regeneration programme, which includes the re-opening of the River Roch and the construction of Rochdale Borough Council’s award winning customer service centre, library and office building, Number One Riverside.
High streets giants Next and M&S have already signed up to the scheme, with Reel cinema planning to open a six screen cinema in the development.
Council leader Richard Farnell, said: “This fantastic development will bring top high street names into Rochdale for the first time and give our early evening economy a much needed shot in the arm. A vibrant town centre with lots of shops and restaurants is something our residents have wanted for a long time and this scheme will deliver all this and more.”
The council-backed scheme will contain around 25 retail and leisure units, including restaurants and cafes.
An independent economic assessment of the scheme, which is set to be around 200,000sq ft in size, suggests that the proposed development will create over 1,000 permanent jobs and could be worth around £17m per year to the local economy.
The public will be given an opportunity to view the proposals at an exhibition to be displayed in Number One Riverside following the submission of the planning application.
