Queensberry Real Estate has submitted a detailed planning application for the Friars Walk retail development in Newport.
QRE said prelet discussions with retailers have progressed well, adding that a major department store letting is imminent and that further deals with major space users and a cinema operator are anticipated in the new year.
It is expected that consent will come in April, allowing QRE to negotiate funding terms with several interested parties.
Modus was due to develop the £230m Friars Walk scheme in Newport before it collapsed into administration in June 2009.
Newport served formal notice on the development in August 2010 and confirmed then that it would acquire the properties via a compulsory purchase order.
QRE was chosen as preferred developer for the 390,000 sq ft retail regeneration scheme in May.
Paul Sargent, partner at QRE, said: “Speed of reaction to the markets’ ever-changing needs is essential these days and we feel it is more astute to go straight to a detailed application after close consultation with major retailers, so that the timeline between contract negotiation and store opening can be kept to a minimum.”
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
