Stockport’s £60m Mercedes-Benz centre set for green light

A £60m Mercedes-Benz showroom and servicing centre alongside the M60 in Stockport has been given a boost after the project was recommended for approval by council planning officers.

LSH, part of the Lei Shing Hong Group, one of the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz retailers, has applied for planning permission to build a new “landmark” showroom and regional hub on the former Brighton Road Industrial Site.

The company currently operates out of a site on Wellington Road North, and will relocate as part of the plans.

LSH plans to build a concrete-framed showroom including staff offices, workshops, and bodyshops, which will be linked to a car storage facility via a link bridge. The development will have a total area of 259,000 sq ft.

The 10-acre site bordered by the M60 and Didsbury Road has been empty since two commercial buildings were demolished in 2015. At the site’s entrance, a mix of terraced houses and commercial properties will be demolished to allow for a new junction and entrance to the showroom.

Planner K2 Consultancy estimates the scheme could have a gross development value of £60m.

Council planning officers recommended the project for approval at a committee meeting this Thursday, arguing the development “would deliver economic benefits, in terms of a significant financial investment in the borough and employment safeguarding and creation”.

The planners’ report added: “The proposed development would provide environmental improvements, in the form of the regeneration of a derelict former industrial site and the provision of a high quality, landmark building for this important and prominent site at the gateway to Stockport”.

Previous plans for the site include a mixed-use retail scheme, proposed by Scarborough International. This was approved in 2016 but plans were never progressed.