Bristol council has approved funds to buy a derelict site that has been “a scar on the area for over 17 years” and transform it into a gateway to the city’s proposed new arena.
The council has signed off £5.4m of funding to buy the 177,589 sq ft former Royal Mail sorting office next to Temple Meads station from south-east Asian owner Kian Gwan Land.
The building – which has lain empty since Royal Mail moved its operations to Filton, on the outskirts of Bristol, in 1997 – occupies a 4.9-acre site that will provide access between the train station and the proposed £91m Bristol Arena.
The plot has been earmarked for 177,000 sq ft of development, including around 100,000 sq ft of offices and 76,000 sq ft of residential.
Bristol mayor George Ferguson said: “If the council is able to acquire this crucial site, it will mean that an area that has lain derelict for years and given a terrible arrival impression at Temple Meads can finally be developed in partnership with others.”
He said there had been numerous failed attempts to redevelop the sorting office, which had been “a scar on the area for over 17 years”. Kian Gwan Land bought the site in May 2008 for £5.3m.
Plans for Bristol Arena will be submitted this summer, with completion scheduled for 2017. Populous, the architect behind the London Olympic Stadium, was selected to design the 12,000-seat venue earlier this year.
