Retailers 'elated' by State purchase on Bridge
The States of Guernsey announced plans to buy the Leale's Yard site on The Bridge for £4.5m on Wednesday.
Earlier this year it had pulled out of a deal to spend about £35m on the project to support the Channel Islands Co-Operative and developer Omnibus with the scheme.
Martin Search, owner of Ray & Scott Jewellers, said he was "absolutely elated" by the purchase.
He said: "I honestly didn't think it would happen in my lifetime and I think it is going to happen this time.
"I honestly think it's gone on too long but we've got so close now to the point of the negotiation and where they bought it and where they've actually put their hands in the pocket."
Shop owner Dave Perchard said he was "hopeful that something is actually going to happen this time".
He said: "I've traded on The Bridge for 30 years now, and even 30 years ago I was concerned as to what the future for my shop was going to be because of Leale's Yard.
"Here we are 30 years later and nothing's happened, but it really looks positive this time."
Deputy Steve Williams, President of the Housing Committee, said it was a "great opportunity" for the States to improve the area.
He said: "It's been derelict for a long time and we saw through the election period a lot of the public were really keen that something happened with Leale's Yard.
"We desperately need housing in the island, this is such a brownfield site... it's really good derelict land to make some good opportunity for new housing."
'Generating transport links'
Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure President Deputy Adrian Gabriel said work had to be done to improve the roads.
He said: "The road network at the moment won't certainly cope with extra housing, so this site is ideal for generating some transport links to help the surrounding area residents and anyone visiting.
"It's brilliant that we've been able to capitalise on this and invest in this site... this site has been derelict for many a year so now it's wholly in the state's hands."
Lisa said the States needed to provide more housing for its islanders.
She said: "Hopefully it's a good thing and it'll be redeveloped into new homes which are desperately needed in the island.
"I think The Bridge needs a bit of a facelift... we need houses, it's a unique site."
Islander Martin disagreed: "More houses, more people, we haven't got the infrastructure in this island.
"What the bridge needs to make it more vibrant is more shops... make it look nice, a nice shopping precinct [and a] nice big car park."
More news stories for Guernsey
Listen to the latest news for Guernsey
Debs said she was worried about the impact on the local school.
"For me, I feel it's bursting at the seams already - adding all that extra housing in one spot, that concerns me."
Andrew said he was not convinced things would change: "It's been going on for a few years now and I don't think they're going to do much with it.
"That's not going to happen within a year, I reckon give it another five years and it'll probably still be the same."
Islander Robert said this was "just what the bridge needs": "For the footfall that will come out of the building project and with Quayside work going on when that's in place there's going to be a lot more commercial benefit from it."
Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
States to buy Leale's Yard site for £4.5m
States stops potential £35m Bridge investment
Step forward for £100m plan to build 338 new homes
Related internet links
States of Guernsey
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
These Peoria grocery stores are getting 'minor renovations.' Here's what we know
PEORIA – Both Schnucks stores in Peoria have been 'receiving minor renovations,' according to the company's media relations. Work at the Knoxville Crossing location is expected to wrap up soon, while the company anticipates completing renovations at its University Street store around the end of the summer. The former storefront – situated at 10405 N. Centerway Drive – is getting updated lighting on the 'fresh side of the store,' along with other updates to the bakery, deli and produce departments. During renovations, Schnucks media relations said the location will also receive 'a new Picadeli salad bar.' At the 4800 N. University St. store, the renovation includes new frozen food and dairy cases. Some parts of the store are also 'receiving fresh lighting, painting and new flooring." Love food? Get the latest food news sent directly to your inbox with our free PJStar Dining newsletter. More: Building that houses longtime Peoria grocery store is for sale. Here's what we know This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Two Peoria grocery stores are undergoing 'minor renovations' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Target (TGT) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
Target (TGT) ended the recent trading session at $105.39, demonstrating a +2.89% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.73%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.18%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 1.21%. Coming into today, shares of the retailer had gained 0.41% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 1.16%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.47%. Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Target in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on August 20, 2025. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $2.08, indicating a 19.07% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $24.88 billion, indicating a 2.26% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.55 per share and revenue of $104.66 billion, which would represent changes of -14.79% and -1.79%, respectively, from the prior year. Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Target. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability. Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system. The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Currently, Target is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Looking at its valuation, Target is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 13.57. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.5, so one might conclude that Target is trading at a discount comparatively. It's also important to note that TGT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.93. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.71. The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 79, positioning it in the top 32% of all 250+ industries. The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1. Keep in mind to rely on to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Can this Charlotte two-lane road handle more development? Neighbors say no
When Michelle Mitchell moved to Mountain Island in 2008, she remembered noticing how undeveloped the northwest Charlotte neighborhood was. Dense wooded areas filled the gaps between sparse subdivisions. Traffic caused a low hum alongside the chirp of a bird or the chitter of cicadas. 'I just always thought it was going to stay like that,' Mitchell said. 'I had no idea of the growth that was coming to take over this area.' In the last 17 years, Mitchell said the area has become a development hotbed. Housing is sprouting in every nook. Shopping centers line the intersections filled with some local but plenty of national retailers, restaurants and a weird amount of autoparts stores. Really, one shopping center has three of them. Wooded areas still exist. When Mitchell drives past the tall trees, she knows they'll be replaced with something or someone. And soon. But the additional residents and businesses aren't Mitchell's main concern. It's the traffic. With all the growth in the community, one thing has remained the same: Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, the neighborhood's main corridor. The approximately 15-mile, state-owned road is a two-lane corridor. One way northeast and one way southwest. All of the area's developments feed into that roadway. For at least a decade, residents have asked for Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road improvements, specifically widening to accommodate the growth. Those request remains unfilled. And it's the state's responsibility. 'We have to rely on the state to do their job,' said Charlotte Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield. This isn't unique to Mountain Island, she said. Charlotte's growth is outpacing its roadways and public transportation options. Mayfield and Councilman Malcom Graham point to Steele Creek as another area with strained two-lane state-owned roadways. North Carolina has the second largest state-maintained road system in the U.S. It owns more than 80,300 miles of roadway, and funding to fix the roads remains sparse. Residents who use Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road have been told by city and state officials that solutions are being looked at. Even if improvements are eventually approved construction remains decades away. Meanwhile, the roadway will continue to plague residents, who say development needs to slow down so officials can think of ways to give the road a chance to catch up. 'We're steadily building and building, but the infrastructure can't keep up and traffic gets worse and worse,' Mitchell said. 'People are frustrated. We can't get in or out of the developments without sitting and waiting and getting into accidents trying to get out… 'It's dangerous. It's been like this for years and there's no plans to change it.' Ins and outs of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road The growth along Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road really started in 2007 when Interstate 485 opened between Mount Holly Road and N.C. 16, or Brookshire Boulevard, according to Kelly Pledger. She's lived in Mountain Island since 1999, back when people didn't know that Charlotte had a third lake community besides Lake Norman and Lake Wylie, Pledger said. 'The link to the outerbelt changed everything here,' Pledger said. 'It opened things up. Not only did we become more dense in population and growth… We became a significant pass-through for people commuting to the city every day from Lincoln County, Mount Holly and places like that.' Essentially, that's why Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road exists. The roadway is considered a secondary road by the state, meaning it serves local traffic and connects drivers to the highway system. Historically, secondary roads were in rural areas and mainly used by farmers to transport goods to major areas, according to a 2016 traffic study by the N. C. Department of Transportation on improving safety on those roads. But many of those roadways are now in urban areas. 'Now, these roads often carry higher traffic volumes at higher speeds, with competing modes (bicycle and pedestrian), that were not contemplated at the time the roads were constructed,' the study stated. Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road is a prime example of that concern, connecting a growing number of local and suburban drivers from Huntersville, Mount Holly or Belmont to Charlotte's city center. 'We've watched it continue to be a bigger and bigger problem, and yet things have not changed a great deal with the infrastructure,' Pledger said. 'We've talked about it with people that can make decisions to change the outcomes as far back as 2014. And yet, here we are.' State roads and prioritization process The people Pledger is referring to are city and state officials, along with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Because Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road is state-owned, any widening project would need to be approved and funded by the state. Developers can and have made infrastructure changes across Charlotte but the responsibility to fix the roadway remains with the state. For the state to approve such a project, there's a long series of steps. The first comes from the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which looks at urban transportation improvements in Iredell, Mecklenburg and Union counties. If approved, the project goes into a long-range planning document, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, which guides and identifies transportation needs over a 30-year span. That plan is submitted to the state. If the project receives a high score through data analytics, it becomes part of the State Transportation Improvement Program, a 10-year funding and construction scheduling document. So, have residents' pleas for Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road widening fallen on deaf ears? Yes and no. Since at least 2014, Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road has not made the cut for the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The Charlotte planning organization did not respond to a Charlotte Observer question on whether the roadway was considered for the previous plans. But one thing is clear, it wasn't nominated and therefore was never submitted to the state. However, the planning organization is currently drafting its 2055 metropolitan plan, and three sections of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road are included. It's unclear what those projects entail. And only one has an estimated timeframe for construction. The section of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road between Bellhaven Boulevard and Mt. Holly Road has a listed timeframe of 2046 to 2055. The 2055 plan will be adopted next year. 'We keep saying (Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road) is a problem and people keep saying it's on the list, but we just got the impression that somehow, somewhere, somebody's not stepping up and speaking out on our behalf,' Pledger said. 'And in the meantime, they continue to approve development after development after development. 'It's at the point where we can't sit back and watch it happen anymore.' Mountain Island rezonings The need to speak up sparked the creation of the Mountain Island Community Alliance this year, a neighborhood group Pledger joined. A rezoning that slipped under residents' radar also spurred an interest to ban together to question corridor growth. In March, Charlotte City Council approved a rezoning request to allow for an 80-unit affordable senior housing apartment complex on Couloak Drive off of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road and near Brookshire Boulevard. No one attended the public hearing, but city councilmembers Mayfield and Graham said they received emails from residents concerned about traffic. City planning said the area was walkable, but that's subjective. While there's sidewalks, Pledger said, there's so much heavy car traffic in the area that it isn't feasible to walk. 'We needed to have a group that can say to developers, no, this is not an accurate representation of what it's like to live right there,' Pledger said. And there's more rezonings on the docket. While not on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, a development for 90 townhomes on Mt. Holly Road is pending a decision by Charlotte City Council. That decision was deferred to Aug. 18. Another rezoning for 64 townhomes on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road may also be decided on Aug. 18. Then there's a rezoning right across from the affordable housing complex. The petition from RED Partners under Tryon Advisors, LLC, is for 70 to 85 for-sale townhomes along with a daycare center at Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church. During a community meeting on the project, about 50 people attended and the main concern was traffic, according Jon Beall, a broker with RED. He understood the concern. 'We're trying to do everything we possibly can to develop the real estate in a responsible manner to the right intensity, and we can't control what happens with the infrastructure,' Beall said. 'Rarely does the infrastructure come before the growth.' More housing and a police station So, what's next for Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road? No roadway improvements projects, but definitely more housing. Construction is underway on several developments including 240 apartments at Easton at Mountain Island, about a mile and a half from Mitchell on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road. Westgate Landing on Mt. Holly Road was completed this year with about 221 units. Then there's the new police station. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police broke ground on its Northwest Division station in June on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road. The station will be completed by 2027. The Northwest Division is a newly created sector, spawned because of growth in the area. When asked why CMPD chose the busy corridor for its new facility, a spokesperson didn't directly answer the question but said as the city grows, so does its police department. There's already a fire station along Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road. Both Mitchell and Pledger said they've seen emergency vehicles try to get through the area but traffic blocks their paths. Councilman Graham, who represents this area, said he hears residents' concerns, though he reiterated that fixing the roadway has to be paid for by the state. At an April townhall meeting, residents demanded a development moratorium be placed on the area, but Graham said that isn't feasible. What is feasible, he said, is looking at future rezonings with a critical eye. Mayfield wants council to slow down on approvals and take into consideration what's being built in the area without a rezoning process. 'Councilmember (Renee) Johnson has been saying for years, why are we not looking at the cumulative impact of what we approve,' Mayfield said. 'I'm not saying no to development. But I am saying can we take a pause and evaluate where we are, what's happening right now and then look at 20 years from now.' 'It's dangerous to drive' In June, Mitchell took The Charlotte Observer on a tour of her neighborhood around 4 p.m. on a Monday. 'I'm so embarrassed because this is a light traffic day,' Mitchell said. But to an inexperienced Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road driver, traffic and safety didn't seem light. It took about 10 minutes to travel from Brookshire Boulevard to Bellhaven Boulevard, which is about half a mile. Mitchell said sometimes it takes double that time. Several cars eager to leave the shopping centers and subdivisions made blind turns, narrowly missing oncoming traffic. No one was walking. 'The cars will steadily come and people will get impatient. It's dangerous to walk,' Mitchell said. 'It's dangerous to drive.' Mitchell shares Pledger's sentiment about the area's development. Change will happen as the city grows, Mitchell said. But if the roadways can't handle the influx of people now, what will happen when more people arrive? 'There's good in change,' Mitchell said. 'Both of my girls purchased a home nearby because it's still affordable compared to other parts of the city. The bad is the infrastructure.' At the intersection of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road and Mitchell's subdivision of Northwoods at Northwoods Forest Drive, there's no traffic light. Mitchell often walks the area and must dart across Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road to get back home. As we patiently waited to cross over Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road in Mitchell's vehicle, one car decided to blast through the intersection, tires screeching and smoking leaving honking cars in its wake. 'Welcome to the neighborhood,' Mitchell said. Solve the daily Crossword
