Debenhams signs up as £150m Shrewsbury scheme is green-lighted

PLANNING consent has been granted for the £150m New Riverside redevelopment in Shrewsbury.

And Debenhams has signed a pre-let agreement for a 95,000 sq ft department store as anchor tenant.

UK Commercial Property Trust received planning consent from Shropshire Council for the development.

The grant of planning consent follows a consultation process with the council and a wide range of local stakeholders, culminating in UKCPT’s application in January to transform its three existing shopping centres – Pride Hill, Darwin and Riverside – into a single, combined centre called New Riverside.

The regeneration project will include the demolition of the existing Riverside centre and the construction of a new 225,000 sq ft centre that will be integrated with the Darwin and Pride Hall centres and provide stronger links to the town centre.

In addition to the 95,000 sq ft department store, there are plans for 50 new shops, ten restaurants, offices and car parking; combined, the enlarged centre will extend to 680,000 sq ft.

UKCPT is being advised on the redevelopment by Ignis Asset Management and Shearer Property Group.

Christopher Hill, chairman of UKCPT, said: “The council’s decision to approve our plans and the signing of a pre-let with a leading national department store operator in Debenhams represent a major step forward for the planned New Riverside redevelopment.

“With these critical milestones achieved, UKCPT will continue to progress its plans for the scheme, while assessing all options for the creation of maximum value on behalf of its shareholders.”

UKCPT said it believed Shrewsbury had significant potential as a retail destination, as a sub-regional county town with a large, affluent catchment area, where no new retail space has been built in the past 20 years.

The redevelopment is planned for completion in 2016.