Cabinet set to pave way for City Centre South scheme

A number of measures that could pave the way for the development of City Centre South, a 560,000 sq ft scheme in Coventry comprising shops, restaurants and a cinema, are set to go before the city council’s cabinet, documents seen by Insider have revealed.Issues to be discussed include the appointment of a preferred bidder and the approval of a £98.8m cash injection from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to fund the project.Plans for City Centre South were granted outline permission in 2012. The site is bounded by Upper Precinct, Greyfriars Road and Warwick Road and its development could bring thousands of jobs to Coventry.It will be anchored by a new department store constructed at the end of Market Way.Queensberry Real Estate was hired as preferred developer partner by Coventry City Council in 2014 but a feasibility study concluded that while there was retailer demand for the scheme, it was financially unviable.In a report filed ahead of a cabinet meeting next week (24 January 2017), the council has been recommended to approve the appointment of a new developer, identified as “Bidder A” due to commercially sensitive information.The document, prepared by David Cockroft, the council’s assistant director for city centre and major projects development, said the creation of a retail-led scheme is a “top priority” and the contract would have been awarded in September 2016 but was delayed due to the finalisation of funding from WMCA.A timeline included in the cabinet report forecasts the exchange of contracts with Bidder A to take place in March.Work could complete by 2022 subject to planning permission and council’s the acquisition of land through Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs).If development goes ahead, City Centre South will lie adjacent to Coventry’s new £37m waterpark, plans for which were approved in August 2016.Set to open in 2018, it will comprise slides, a wave pool and a lazy river, as well as a spa, gym, a 25-metre swimming pool, a climbing wall, squash courts and a dance studio.