Work begins on site for £20m retail development
Work has begun on the site of new Tesco and Home Bargains stores in Houghton.
Clearance work at the former Houghton Colliery site is underwayinpreparationfora £20m retail development.
The site, which is being developed by North East based property and construction firm, Hellens Group in conjunction with Fintry Estates, is due to open next Spring.
Working closely with Sunderland City Council, Hellens andFintryhavefundedthedevelopment with real estate investment firm, LXi REIT.
The development will feature a new 4,200sqm Tesco supermarket while Home Bargainswillopena1,900sqm store, with the two sites in total expected to create around 100 new jobs.
Plans for the redevelopment of the colliery site have been in the pipeline since a Sunderland City Council cabinet meeting in 2019 agreed to sell the site to Hellens.
A four-way contest to buy the plot was originally won by Urban and Civic, who subsequently withdrew so the council approached Hellens Group Ltd who were the “second-ranked bid”.
Hellens chief executive Gavin Cordwell-Smith welcomed the start of work: “We are delighted to begin clearance work on the former colliery site with construction due to commence in May this year.
“As a Sunderland-based company, we are committed to supporting local regeneration projects and seeing the area benefit from multi-millionpounddevelopments.The supportfromSunderlandCity Council has been invaluable in unlocking this particularly challenging brownfield site.”
Cllr Kevin Johnson, Dynamic City Cabinet Member at Sunderland City Council and Houghton councillor, said: “The redevelopment of theformerHoughtonColliery site is a project we have been working on for some time, so we’re absolutely thrilled to see work progressing on the scheme.
“We made a commitment last year to review our procurementsystemsto‘keepthe SunderlandpoundinSunderland’ whenever possible, by prioritisinglocalspend,andin Hellens Group we have a partnerwhichishelpingusdojust that. It’s a local business, employinglocalpeopleandworking with local contractors to deliver a project which will be truly transformational.”