Maple Grove buys Blackpool hospital site
The development arm of the Eric Wright Group has completed the acquisition of a former hospital site in Blackpool from Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust in a £1.05m deal.
Located at the junction of Talbot Road and Devonshire Road to the north east of Blackpool town centre, the 3.7-acre site was home to Devonshire Road hospital before it was decommissioned in 2007 and later demolished. Recently the site has been let to the local authority and was used for surface parking until the lease expired in 2016.
Andrew Dewhurst, development director at Maple Grove Developments, said: “The site is on a prominent junction and within close proximity to the Queens Park regeneration area, which is currently being redeveloped to create 191 new homes.
“The Devonshire Road hospital was well known locally, and we are proud to be involved in bringing the site back into use and continuing the regeneration of this area of the town. With the site now under our ownership, we will look towards submitting a planning application in spring.”
Suzanne Wood, property asset manager at Healthcare Support & Infrastructure Services – a recently-formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of the trust, said: “The disposal of the site will allow LCFT to reinvest the capital in improving performance and patient experience in its operational healthcare property assets.
“In Maple Grove we have found a highly-responsible and trusted developer with a strong track record in regenerating areas in communities, especially in Blackpool and we look forward to seeing the site’s transformation.”
The Queens Park area has been a long-term redevelopment project for Blakcpool Council, with housebuilder Lovell a key player in the area.
So what will be built on this site? A multi-storey car park?
By James Yates
Park & Ride to replace the loss of central car parks. Could have a tram line extension from the new terminus to it. Would bring in millions of visitors.
By Dave
Am surprised Lovell didn’t pick up this site. Talbot Road is a very depressed area of Blackpool, of which there are many.
A Park and Ride wouldn’t be viable 12 months of the year; I can see this being the site of a new school, or a large care home, with an affordable housing element potentially using access from Coleridge Road.
By Liam