Plans for the redevelopment of Scarborough’s Brunswick shopping centre have been approved unanimously.
The centre’s owner, regeneration specialist Scarborough Group International, wants to transform the 130,000 sq ft, 1990s-built shopping centre into a leisure-led destination, anchored by a multi-screen cinema. Debenhams was the anchor tenant until its collapse in 2021.
SGI’s proposals also include new restaurants and bars, as well as some shops, all delivered within the existing building envelope.
SGI bought the site in September 2021 and has been working with Scarborough Borough Council on the plans. The council’s ambition is for Scarborough to be the best performing coastal town centre in England by 2025, as well as the primary economic hub for retail, leisure, learning and living within the Yorkshire coast area.
The scheme, which has been designed by Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher, is being funded by a mix of private and public sector investment, specifically drawing on Scarborough Council’s Future High Street Fund and Levelling Up Fund allocation.
SGI group development director Mark Jackson said: “This strategically important scheme very much supports the council’s priorities set out within its Town Investment Plan. In addition to providing a vibrant leisure and entertainment offering for the local community and tourists alike, it is hoped that our redevelopment of the Brunswick will act as a springboard for wider investment and economic growth in Scarborough town centre.”
SGI said it will announce an operator for the cinema in the next few months.
Leader of the council Steve Siddons said: “It has long-been an ambition of the council to bring a cinema to the centre of Scarborough.”
Works are due to start on site towards the end of the year and it is hoped the new centre will be open by summer 2025.
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