Plans to build hundreds of homes on former Sainsbury's site in Wolverhampton take step forward
The planned transformation of the former Sainsbury's supermarket site in Wolverhampton city centre is expected to include 370 new homes, community spaces and green streets, centred around a re-purposed grade II-listed St George's Church.
City of Wolverhampton Council's cabinet has agreed to enter into heads of terms with developer Capital&Centric to continue the work on the scheme.
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This includes preparing designs ready for the submission of a full planning application early next year, as well as construction drawings for potential contractors.
The council is expecting for planning approval by September next year ready for work to begin in November.
The work is expected to take around two and a half years to complete with the site ready by spring 2029.
The St George's store closed in 2014 when a new £60m supermarket opened in Raglan Street on the opposite side of the city centre and has remained empty since.
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The gateway site next the Bilston Street Island has been left to rot and has frequently been the scene of anti-social behaviour and a fire in 2021.
The council bought the freehold for the St George's site in 2016 but it was deemed 'surplus to requirements' in a cabinet report in 2023 alongside a request for potential bids from developers.
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Sainsbury's lease on the site expired in March this year which returned the ownership and responsibility of the site back, and the management of the car park's lease, to City of Wolverhampton Council.
Since last year, developer Capital&Centric has been working with City of Wolverhampton Council on designs to turn the five-acre former Sainsbury's site into a new neighbourhood.
It will feature shops, workspaces and commercial space, adding a new quarter to Wolverhampton's city centre, with links to the £61m City Learning Quarter set to open this autumn.
An agreement is also set to be signed that would see Capital&Centric buy and build on the site once planning permission is approved, following the backing of the council's cabinet.
The cabinet report, which was discussed at meeting on July 23 said: 'St George's is a vital gateway scheme for the city, set to deliver a new neighbourhood and add to the next phase of placemaking of the area following the City Learning Quarter project.
'It is earmarked to deliver up to 370 new homes, community public spaces and high-quality commercial spaces.'
The multi-million-pound City Learning Quarter includes a new college campus on the site of the former Faces nightclub.
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