Terrace Hill has secured planning permission for two major retail and leisure schemes in Durham and Cornwall.
The property company said it has received the Green light for its scheme at Bishop Auckland in Durham and its Sainsbury’s foodstore development in Helston, Cornwall, from the Government Offices for the North East and South West respectively. The decisions were ratified by the secretary of state for communities and local government.
Terrace Hill said both schemes will now proceed during the course of the next few months.
The 150,000 sq ft scheme in Bishop Auckland will regenerate land that has been vacant and derelict since the closure of the Warner Electrics facility in 2003. It will comprise a retail and leisure park, comprising a 90,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s food store, a 58,000 sq ft leisure complex and two restaurants.
It will also include a new stadium for Bishop Auckland Football Club. The scheme will create approximately 1,000 jobs both during the development phase and once it is fully operational.
In Helston, Terrace Hill plans to develop a 55,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s food store with a petrol station and Sainsbury’s will retain the freehold of the scheme.
Philip Leech, chief executive at Terrace Hill, said: ‘These schemes will have a positive impact on our net asset value in the coming year and we have a number of other foodstore developments under negotiation, which should add significantly to the growth of our business in the future. These schemes and the other pre-let development opportunities that we are currently working on demonstrate that we can continue to add value despite a difficult economic background.'
It follows the news that Terrace Hill has ended plans to prelet 100,000 sq ft to energy provider NPower at its Baltic Business Quarter after it determined it would not be profitable.
Leech said: ‘Our original strategy for the Baltic Business Quarter remains firmly in place and we continue to see ongoing good levels of interest from local, national and international occupiers. The foodstore transactions and other pre-let development negotiations demonstrate that we can continue to add value to the business despite difficult economic conditions.’