Details revealed of £100m Crompton Place overhaul

Proposals for the £100m redevelopment of Crompton Place Shopping Centre and Victoria Square in Bolton, set to make way for independent retail, offices, homes and a hotel, have been revealed ahead of a consultation this week.

The project is being brought forward by Bolton Regeneration, a partnership between Beijing Construction & Engineering Group International and Midia, who were named by Bolton Council as its development partner earlier this year.

Crompton Place is a major segment of Bolton Council’s £1.5bn masterplan, one of five main intervention areas. The council acquired the 280,000 sq ft shopping centre in June 2018 for £14.8m from Santander Pension Fund, in order to begin the process of overhauling of the town centre.

Designed by architect Chapman Taylor, Bolton Regeneration’s plan for the site include a 110-bedroom hotel, 150 homes, a 80,000 sq ft office, and a mixed-use retail, leisure, dining and events space, dubbed Bolton Works, alongside improved public realm. The scheme would be named Bolton Victoria Square.

Following a series of public consultation events to be held later this week, an outline planning application is hoped to be submitted to the council in early 2020. Hive Land & Planning is advising on the application.

Nearby, Midia is also involved on a 20-storey tower, proposed next to Bolton transport interchange, which will also see a multi-storey car park and a 30,000 sq ft office delivered.

Dubbed Trinity Gateway, the site covers 1.6 acres on the corner of Bradshawgate and Trinity Street in the town centre. Beechlane Investments is behind the project, led by Midia director Alex Colbeck and Step Places director Harry Dhaliwal. Place North West understands Bolton-based Seddon is in discussions to build the project.

Steven Turner, director of Bolton Regeneration, said: “This scheme is the first key step in developing an exciting vision for a refreshed and revitalised Bolton town centre and we are incredibly excited to be driving this forward. The re-purposing of Crompton Shopping Centre will enable the creation of multi-use space that improves the access and pedestrian flows within the town centre. Importantly, the revitalisation of the area will deliver real long term economic and social benefits for the people of Bolton.”

Tony Oakman, Bolton Council’s chief executive, added: “We are committed to making Bolton town centre a great place to live, work, shop and visit. The proposals for Crompton Place lie at the heart of our £1.5bn town centre masterplan that will deliver a centre that everyone in Bolton can be proud of. We want the residents of Bolton to help us shape these developments which is why it is so important that as many people as possible come along to the consultation events and have their say. All the partners have worked long and hard to get to this stage to come up with these exciting plans. I’d encourage everyone with an interest in the town centre to come along.”

Bolton Works is set to include pop-up shops and event spaces

Consultation events are being held at the former Clarks shoe shop in Crompton Place, 20-22 Hotel Street, on Thursday 28 November, 4pm-7pm, Friday 29 November, 10am-4pm, Saturday 30 November, 9am-12pm.

Feedback can also be given at: https://www.boltonvictoriasquare.co.uk/