Firm building railway station takes over two Wolverhampton housing projects
The company building Wolverhampton's new railway station has taken over two major housebuilding schemes in the city after the previous developer pulled out.
Galliford Try has acquired the Tower and Fort Works site in Graiseley and the historic former Tap Works site in Low Hill – once home of a famous Armitage Shanks factory – from the French-owned group Bouygues.
The council had named Bouygues as developer of the two sites in April last year, but the company is now withdrawing from the low-rise family housing market.
Galliford Try is a £2.8bn a year construction group with a string of major projects to its name, including Resorts World at the NEC. It started work on Wolverhampton's new railway station earlier this year and is due to complete the job by 2020.
Wolverhampton council's deputy leader and head of housing, Councillor Peter Bilson, said: “We are delighted we have been able to secure a developer of Galliford Try Partnerships’ quality for these two very important housing regeneration schemes in the City of Wolverhampton.
“This is an exciting time for house building in the city with a host of projects springing up to benefit everyone.
“Work on these two sites supports the house building programme and will deliver quality homes for all."
Galliford Try will now take over the job of delivering 150 homes on the Tap Works scheme, which consists of three derelict locations – the former Armitage Shanks Tap Works factory site, as well as land on Fifth Avenue and Broome Road.
Forty of the units will be council homes for rent, with the remainder to be sold as market housing.
The first council homes are set to be completed within a year. The remaining council homes as well as market housing for sale is expected to be completed within three years.
The Tower and Fort Works contract will deliver 77 homes at the Great Brickkiln Street location. A quarter of the homes on this site will be set aside as affordable council houses.
The remainder is to be sold as market housing, with the development consisting of a mixture of two, three, four and five-bedroom houses, plus five apartments, including two wheelchair accessible flats.
Construction is expected to start towards the end of the summer and should be completed by the end of 2020.
Stephen Teagle, chief executive of Galliford Try Partnerships, added: “We are really pleased to step in and work with City of Wolverhampton Council to progress the proposals at Tap Works and Tower and Fort Works. Our intervention ensures these significant projects are delivered as originally agreed.
“We are renowned for our regeneration expertise and our ability to work with partners to unlock the true value of many challenging sites. Thanks to our strong regional presence, we can bring forward both of these important developments without the need to change the proposed tenures or delivery timescales.”
