Green light set for further City Centre South funding

Further funding for Coventry’s City Centre South regeneration project, which includes more than 1,500 homes and new commercial space, could soon be approved.Urban regeneration specialist Shearer Property Group (SPG) has partnered with The Hill Group to bring forward the £450m mixed-use development, which received outline planning consent in January 2022. It comprises more than 1,500 homes and new commercial space.The scheme benefits from £98.8m of grant funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which was secured by the Coventry City Council in 2017 to fund land acquisition, enabling works, demolition and other key development costs.Cabinet, which meets on 13 February, is now recommended to approve the acceptance of additional WMCA funding of £12.24m to be added to the £98.8m previously secured.A report for the cabinet said: “Since the recommendations contained within the December 2022 report were approved, a significant amount of work has been undertaken to progress the scheme, including the compulsory purchase order being confirmed by the secretary of state, the delivery of high-quality new premises for the Shopmobility scheme and a significant amount of ground investigations and surveys being undertaken.”However, changes in fire safety regulations proposed earlier this year in the wake of the Grenfell disaster have required changes to the design of, and timescales for, the scheme resulting in viability challenges which need to be resolved before the scheme can commence further.”This change in regulation has had a significant, adverse effect on scheme viability due to increasing build costs and reduced sales/lettable area, thus depressing overall scheme viability. In order to address this issue and to prevent the scheme from stalling, the council has been able to successfully negotiate an additional grant assistance from the West Midlands Combined Authority of up to £12.24m.”Detailed plans were submitted late last year for the first two phases of the development.Phase one of the scheme, which is located within a five-minute walk of Coventry train station, comprises 991 homes, of which 200 would be affordable, as well as approximately 86,000 sq ft of commercial space, all set within about 182,000 sq ft of public open space.Meanwhile, phase two would provide further commercial space and up to 584 homes.