News: New Rotherham Tesco open for Christmas
The new £40m Tesco Extra store in Rotherham town centre is on track to be open and trading before Christmas.
South Yorkshire's largest property investment deal for the past two years, has seen developers TCN UK Ltd, bring forward the 110,000 sq ft superstore, which also includes 540 parking spaces and a petrol filling station, on a five-acre site that was home to a number of council buildings.
ISG, the international construction services company, secured the £19m contract to build the new store and the project also includes £4m worth of public realm improvements and massive revisions to road and utilities infrastructure.
The development is set to create 450 jobs (200 full time and 250 part time). 200 of these are additional to the current store on Forge Island and all staff at the current store would be guaranteed a job at the new site. A proportion of vacancies will be filled through Tesco's "Regeneration Partnership" which, in partnership with the local Job Centre Plus, ensures a proportion of vacancies are reserved for long term unemployed people.
TCN UK Ltd bought the site from Rotherham Council for £7.3m and private property investor fund Osprey Income and Growth 2 LP purchased the development with the backing of £16.9m of equity from private investors and £23.75m of debt from HSBC Bank.
The UK development was unaffected by the Dutch parent company of TCN being made bankrupt in 2012 due to its complex property investments across Europe.
Stephen Holme, development director of TCN UK Ltd, said: "We are on schedule to allow Tesco access to the store in August so that fit-out of the store can begin.
"This is one of the most important development projects for Rotherham town centre over the past ten years and will bring a significant volume of jobs to the region as well as opening the area up for further investment. It ranks as the biggest development deal in South Yorkshire in the last two years."
Mark Thomas, spokesperson for Tesco, added: "It's fantastic to see such progress being made with our Rotherham store. This will be a major boost for the town, bringing hundreds of jobs and playing a big role in the area's ongoing regeneration.
"We're delighted to have already been working with the community on artwork for the store and will continue to play an active role in Rotherham. We're really looking forward to welcoming customers later this year."
The council is looking at ways to capitalise on Tesco's move across town, currently considering the findings of an independent study into the future of the adjacent markets complex and targeting the former Tesco site on Forge Island for a cinema and possible new theatre development.
Karl Battersby, strategic director for environment and development services at Rotherham Council, said: "This is one of the last stores of this scale to be built nationally, and the scale of the investment shows real confidence in Rotherham.
"We have worked hard with Tesco to integrate the store into the town centre and its opening will represent the delivery of another key Rotherham Renaissance project. The story does not end here though - as the authority will continue to dedicate its resources to the town centre."
Tesco, the UK's number one retailer, saw a 6% decline in trading profit in the year to February 2014, but still made £3.3bn. Changes in shopping habits and the growing popularity of online and convenience stores, saw Tesco reign in large out of town developments. It now has plans for 700,000 sq ft of new space this year – half of the 1.4m sq ft last year.
Tesco website
TCN UK website
Images: TCN UK Ltd / Tom Austen
South Yorkshire's largest property investment deal for the past two years, has seen developers TCN UK Ltd, bring forward the 110,000 sq ft superstore, which also includes 540 parking spaces and a petrol filling station, on a five-acre site that was home to a number of council buildings.
ISG, the international construction services company, secured the £19m contract to build the new store and the project also includes £4m worth of public realm improvements and massive revisions to road and utilities infrastructure.
The development is set to create 450 jobs (200 full time and 250 part time). 200 of these are additional to the current store on Forge Island and all staff at the current store would be guaranteed a job at the new site. A proportion of vacancies will be filled through Tesco's "Regeneration Partnership" which, in partnership with the local Job Centre Plus, ensures a proportion of vacancies are reserved for long term unemployed people.
TCN UK Ltd bought the site from Rotherham Council for £7.3m and private property investor fund Osprey Income and Growth 2 LP purchased the development with the backing of £16.9m of equity from private investors and £23.75m of debt from HSBC Bank.
The UK development was unaffected by the Dutch parent company of TCN being made bankrupt in 2012 due to its complex property investments across Europe.
Stephen Holme, development director of TCN UK Ltd, said: "We are on schedule to allow Tesco access to the store in August so that fit-out of the store can begin.
"This is one of the most important development projects for Rotherham town centre over the past ten years and will bring a significant volume of jobs to the region as well as opening the area up for further investment. It ranks as the biggest development deal in South Yorkshire in the last two years."
Mark Thomas, spokesperson for Tesco, added: "It's fantastic to see such progress being made with our Rotherham store. This will be a major boost for the town, bringing hundreds of jobs and playing a big role in the area's ongoing regeneration.
"We're delighted to have already been working with the community on artwork for the store and will continue to play an active role in Rotherham. We're really looking forward to welcoming customers later this year."
Karl Battersby, strategic director for environment and development services at Rotherham Council, said: "This is one of the last stores of this scale to be built nationally, and the scale of the investment shows real confidence in Rotherham.
"We have worked hard with Tesco to integrate the store into the town centre and its opening will represent the delivery of another key Rotherham Renaissance project. The story does not end here though - as the authority will continue to dedicate its resources to the town centre."
Tesco, the UK's number one retailer, saw a 6% decline in trading profit in the year to February 2014, but still made £3.3bn. Changes in shopping habits and the growing popularity of online and convenience stores, saw Tesco reign in large out of town developments. It now has plans for 700,000 sq ft of new space this year – half of the 1.4m sq ft last year.
Tesco website
TCN UK website
Images: TCN UK Ltd / Tom Austen
3 comments:
Again Well done Rotherham Council with the planned opening of the New Tesco's another nail in the coffin of a Rotherham Town centre which is already dying on it's feet
A much needed improvement to what Rotherham has to offer - currently i NEVER shop in Rotherham - now I might!
When did it open
Post a Comment