Wolverhampton's mammoth £55 million Westside development given the green light
A £55 million scheme to transform Wolverhampton city centre, which will see a new cinema and restaurants built, has been approved.
Outline planning permission has been granted for the Westside development, which would rejuvenate a run-down part of the city centre, creating an open leisure space.
Bosses behind the scheme said there had been strong demand from businesses wanting to be part of Westside, meaning construction remains on track to start later this year.
A multiplex cinema, 50,000 square feet of additional leisure space, new restaurants covering 40,000 square feet, a 100-plus bed hotel, and a multi-storey car park are lined up for phase one of the project.
Philip Leech, property director for developers Urban&Civic, said: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone in the delivery of Westside.
“We have had an exceptional level of interest from occupiers and look forward to starting construction this year.”
Construction on this phase is expected to be completed in 2020, with phase two finishing in 2022.
Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton council's cabinet member for city economy, said: “This is going to be a big year for regeneration in the city with the Westside project leading the way.
“The scheme has already attracted unprecedented demand from occupiers and being granted outline planning approval means the finer details can be agreed in terms of occupier expectations.
“Urban&Civic possess an excellent track record in delivering comparable high-quality schemes in the UK and have the financial support in place.
“There is a general enthusiasm around the Westside opportunity, and optimism concerning the groundswell of regeneration activity across the city, where £3.7 billion of investment is on site or in the pipeline.
“The outstanding proposals put forward by Urban&Civic perfectly meet our expectations of a regenerated Wolverhampton.”
