Uk construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine has been chosen as contractor for the £60m redevelopment scheme for St Austell, Cornwall.

Sir Robert McAlpine was selected from a shortlist of three contractors by developer David Mclean Developments to take on the regeneration project.

The £60m redevelopment will include 155,000 sq ft (47,244 sq m) of new retail accommodation on three levels, 20,000 sq ft (6,096 sq m) of A3 use (for restaurants, cafés and bars), a new four-screen cinema, a 550-space multi-storey car park and 70 residential units.

The development area covers a five-acre site and forms the south west corner of St Austell Town Centre. The site previously included a multi-storey car park, a nightclub and two mixed-use blocks with retail on the ground floor and residential flats above, a Tesco store and the town’s cinema.

The construction phase, which will take two years and the scheme is expected to be open in time for Easter trading in 2008.

Sir Robert McAlpine is working in partnership with the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) and Restormel Borough Council on the town centre project.

Agents for the scheme are CB Richard Ellis in Bristol.