by Paul Strohm
Stadium Developments are to develop about 1.4m sq ft of shopping in Rotherham’s enterprise zone. There is part of a major scheme which will also include a 150,000-sq ft leisure centre, parking for 10,000 cars and which will cost over £100m to develop — infrastructure alone will cost £12m.
The shopping element of the scheme, which will be known as the Parkgate Centre, includes a 1m-sq ft “American-style” covered regional food mall and a 400,000-sq ft retail park. The latter is the first phase of the project and will be started immediately. It will take 35 acres of the total and includes parking for 2,000 cars. Work on the retail park should be complete by spring 1987 and is being funded in the short term by bank finance.
Stadium Developments have appointed Mealey Horgan, a firm of financial consultants, to find finance for the rest of the scheme.
Over half of the units on the retail park have already been reserved, according to Stadium, and their future tenants include MFI, Harris Queensway, Texas Homecare, Poundstretcher and Carpetland.
Discussions are also well advanced with potential operators of the 150,000-sq ft leisure centre, and building will start as soon as one is found.
The leisure centre will link the retail park and the shopping centre, on which work should start before the year-end. With between 800,000 sq ft and 1m sq ft, it is planned that there will be two or three large department stores, a major superstore, fast food courts, a market hall, a pub, speciality shops and parking for 8,000 cars.
The 150,000-sq ft leisure centre will include a 10-screen cinema, bowling alley, ice rink and private sports club.
Architects of the whole scheme are Biggins Sargent Partnership and the letting agents are Eadon Lockwood & Riddle, Mason Owen & Partners and Harvey Spack Field & Co.
Stadium have increased the size of their scheme since the original 28-acre parcel of land was bought about a year ago. British Rail sold 8 acres and British Steel sold 20 acres, at a price between £16,000 and £18,000 per acre.
At that time Stadium had planned a 650,000-sq ft scheme.
Stadium, whose chairman Eddie Healey founded the company in 1982, have so far specialised in retail warehousing and so the shopping centre element of the Parkgate scheme will be something of a departure.
Previous schemes include a 136,000-sq ft retail park in Middlesbrough and another of 90,000 sq ft in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
The publicity-shy Mr Healey has a retailing background and was the chairman of the Status Discount chain, which was bought by MFI in 1980.
