Wolverhampton council approves £13.1 million Sainsbury's development
Plans to regenerate a former Sainsbury's supermarket in Wolverhampton have been approved despite the site expected to cost £13.1 million to develop.
Wolverhampton council approved the purchase of the former Sainsbury's site on St George's Parade at a meeting on Wednesday.
The move will mean the council will need to take out a loan of £13.1m, with taxpayers helping to foot the bill.
Councillor Andrew Johnson said it would cost the council, responsible for the proposal said that though the site would have a net cost to the council of £200,000 a year from within their existing revenue budget, the benefit of regenerating the site would 'outweigh other considerations'.
The site had been identified as a key strategic city centre gateway in the council's City Centre Area Action Plan, meaning they had to make the offer to purchase the site quickly to prevent other bidders acquiring it for commercial use.
An offer was submitted to purchase the property on March 11, with offers only being accepted if they were above £13 million.
Councillor Andrew Johnson said: "The whole purpose in purchasing the site is to bring about economic benefits. The purpose of agreeing to approve the development is key in continuing the regeneration of the city centre."
It is hoped that the development will follow the recent success of the i10 building which includes a state-of-the-art office block and the Sunbeam pub on Railway Drive.
