Bolton to expedite long-awaited Crompton Place regen
The council’s cabinet will meet next month to agree the terms of a lease surrender with M&S that could pave the way for the redevelopment of the 280,000 sq ft shopping centre.
In order to push on with its redevelopment proposals, Bolton Council needs to secure vacant possession of Crompton Place. At present, M&S, which closed its Bolton store last year, has a lease on the unit that ends in 2027.
However, the council and the retailer have come to an agreement on an early lease surrender.
If the terms of the deal are signed off, it could allow for work to start as soon as Primark completes its planned move to Market Place Shopping Centre in late 2024 or early 2025.
“The redevelopment of Crompton Place is a once-in-a-generation opportunity at the heart of the regeneration of our town centre, and I am sure everyone will join me in welcoming this major update,” said Bolton Council Leader, Cllr Nick Peel.
“If agreed, this will present us with an opportunity to replace an underused and unappealing building with something everyone in Bolton can be proud of.”
The make-up of the scheme is yet to be decided. An earlier vision for the redevelopment of Crompton Place, which featured plans for a 110-bedroom hotel, 150 homes and 113,000 sq ft of office space, was approved in 2018.
However, that approval has now lapsed and a fresh plan will need to be drawn up.
“This will be our flagship redevelopment project,” Peel added. “[It will] signal to the private sector that Bolton Council is serious about regeneration and thereby attracting even more commercial investment.”
The council acquired Crompton Place in 2018, before beginning the complex process of supporting leaseholders to relocate so demolition work could start.
As well as protracted negotiations with tenants, the process of finding a development partner has also contributed to the sluggish progress at Crompton Place.
Bolton Regeneration, a joint venture between the council BCEGI and Midia, had been in line to deliver the scheme but was dissolved in February 2022.
Bolton Council has previously said talks with “a number of developers” around the future of Crompton Place are ongoing but that no final decision on how to progress the scheme has been made.
There seems to be real momentum in the redevelopment of Bolton now.Peoole forget that during the 1980s there was far more development in Bolton than Manchester and Bolton was the fourth most busy shopping area in the entire North West.The suburbs of Bolton if you actually know the town properly are also much nicer than the suburbs of Manchester and offer much better value for money for young people looking for housing.
By Bob Smith
Great news – The Crompton Place has to go asap if there is going to be some real changes to the town centre. So far its all been social housing.
By DJ
I’d agree with both comments so far that this is both excellent news and demonstrates that the town is moving in the right direction. Bolton needs to be sold as somewhere that can offer affordable homes to those commuting to Manchester as well as those working in Bolton. The town needs people who will spend money and grow local businesses. An article on the BBC this morning talks about leasehold properties. If the homes built in the town centre offered commonhold this is something which could sell Bolton as an alternative place to live. Lots of progress made but much more work still to be done, glad things are moving in the right direction.
By Anonymous
Anonymous – Spot on! If they get it right it could be a hidden gem for the Manchester commuter looking for somewhere offering value for money. Bolton inst the dump its often made out to be. Areas like Lostock, Bromley Cross, Egerton and parts of Smithills are really nice places to live.
By DJ
The reintroduction of the night bus between Manchester and Bolton this summer by the Mayor of Greater Manchester and the current reduction in train and bus fares between Manchester and Bolton is going to make Bolton more attractive to young people to move there.
By Tracey Smith
I really think Bolton needs the Metro link to stand any chance of regeneration. Bolton has some very nice surrounding areas but the town centre has been miss managed and is in an absolute state. I’m still not convinced the council has the funding to complete this project they way they want to.
By Jon P
I would agree that Bolton really needs to Metrolink for regeneration. If The Market Place is to become the central focus for retail, imagine the opportunity of having it linked to the interchange by tram? Failure to address that connection leaves Bolton in the same predicament it has been in for years, an oversized town center lacking linkage between POI. It’s half a mile from the interchange to The Market Place.
By Tony K