Kajima to fund £150m Rochdale retail scheme

Genr8 Developments, a joint venture partnership between Chelsfield Partners and former Amec Executive chairman John Early together with directors Richard Ingham and Mike Smith, has agreed terms with Kajima Partnerships to be a funding partner for its plans for Rochdale town centre.

Genr8 was selected as Rochdale Council's preferred development partner for a proposed town centre retail and leisure development in autumn last year.

The developer is currently working closely with the council to finalise detailed scheme designs and proposals with a view to submitting an outline planning application next year.

Mike Smith said: "We have been looking to work with Kajima for some time and it was really a question of finding the right project on which to collaborate. We believe that our respective skills are ideally suited to the Rochdale town centre regeneration and the partnership will now be working hard to bring our proposals to fruition."

Kajima Partnerships is a public private partnership and private finance initiative provider which is a UK subsidiary of Kajima Corporation of Japan.

Julian Rudd-Jones, managing director of Kajima Partnerships, added: "Kajima Partnerships has a long and successful track record of investing and developing in real estate in partnership with the private and public sectors. We look forward to working in Rochdale with Genr8 and our clients to revitalise the town centre."

The proposals for the £150m town centre project, which has already undergone a first-stage of public consultation, include a new supermarket of up to 80,000 sq ft, a department store, additional retail and leisure facilities and improved car parking.

Irene Davidson, leader of Rochdale Council, said: "This is another important milestone for Rochdale town centre, with construction of the Sixth Form College completed, the building of the new civic offices underway and the Metrolink due to arrive in the town. We very much welcome the funding partnership and we look forward to working with Genr8 to progress a scheme through to planning application stage."

The retail scheme is part of a wider £250m redevelopment of the town centre.

Kajima Corporation specialises in civil engineering, construction and development projects with a history stretching back over 160 years.