Crest Nicholson, Helical Retail, Morrisons and THI have all been shortlisted for the redevelopment of a key 9,290 (100,000 sq ft) town centre retail and leisure site in Dorchester, Dorset.
Landowner and local authority West Dorset council hopes any scheme on the 1.82ha (4.5 acre) site on Charles Street will fend off any threat from Shearer Property Group’s £25m proposals for retail and leisure in nearby Weymouth.
Graeme Tulley, partner and head of local authority consulting at Drivers Jonas which is advising the WDDC, said that the council hoped to have selected a preferred bidder by October. As part of the redevelopment, a church that already stands on the Charles Street site will have to relocate.
Last week it was announced that Shearer Property Group and Hill Samuel Property Unit Trust have teamed up to develop an 18,116 sq m (195,000 sq ft) retail and leisure scheme in Weymouth. The £26m joint venture will take the form of an extension to existing shopping facilities and will be known as New Bond Street.
Planning consent for the Weymouth scheme was secured in April. Since then, Debenhams has agreed to anchor the development with a 6,503 sq m (70,000 sq ft) department store. Cine UK has also signed up to open a nine-screen multiplex cinema.
In Weymouth, Camplin Wilson acted for Hill Samuel and Lambert Smith Hampton advised Shearer Property Group.
EGi News 31/07/98
