MIPIM: Derby city council has decided to increase the amount of money in its regeneration fund from £10m to £17.5m.
The council is expected to confirm the move at MIPIM, and the extra cash could be used to kick-start a number of stalled schemes across the city.
The fund was originally launched three years ago and most of the original £10m has already been allocated.
Schemes which have already benefited include Lowbridge’s 32,000 sq ft office development at Friar Gate Square – the first speculatively built office block in Derby city centre for 20 years.
The additional funding could even lead to a 45,000 sq ft second phase at Friar Gate Square. Lowbridge claims that there is up to 200,000 sq ft of untapped city centre office demand in Derby.
Other schemes set to benefit include Bolstertone’s 50,000 sq ft Central Square and Clowes Development’s St Mary’s Gate scheme.
The fund is administered by Worcester-based specialist Thomas Lister.
Other MIPIM announcements on the Derby stand include plans for a new innovation centre at the 1.5m sq ft Global Technology Campus in Chellaston, which is a £100m joint venture between Miller Birch and Wilson Bowden as well as landowners Rolls-Royce and Derby city council; plans to transform Derby’s listed Magistrates’ Court on Full Street into a hotel and office scheme, and the city council’s plans for a new £20m Olympic-sized swimming pool in the city, next to the Riverlights Bus Station.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
