Oldham goes back to the drawing board at Prince’s Gate
The council will next week terminate an agreement with Lidl that would have seen the supermarket giant deliver a food store and a hotel on a plot next to Oldham Mumps Metrolink stop.
Oldham Council agreed terms with Lidl in 2019 after M&S, which had planned to build a store at Princes Gate, pulled out in 2016.
Under the terms of the conditional agreement, Lidl would have delivered a 28,560 sq ft store and a 68-bedroom hotel for a national chain.
However, Oldham is looking at new possibilities for the site at Prince’s Gate after talks between Lidl and the hotel operator broke down.
Under the terms of the contract between the council and Lidl, the entire project needed to be delivered in full.
A statement from Oldham Council said: “Since the Covid pandemic, the hotel hospitality sector has been particularly hard hit for new locations with many operators now concentrating on their existing sites rather than expanding into new developments.”
A decision to terminate the contract is set to be approved at Oldham Council’s cabinet meeting on Monday 23 January.
Oldham Council said it is “reviewing options” for the site and will announce shortly its preferred uses and re-marketing timescale.
“We are obviously extremely disappointed by the outcome of the situation,” said Cllr Amanda Chadderton, Leader of the council.
“I want to reassure people that we are continuing to work hard to deliver a positive outcome at the Prince’s Gate site, and we aim to turn our focus now into making this a positive opportunity for the land.
“Unfortunately, global events out of our control have affected the hotel market to such an extent, that they have told us this is no longer viable for them, given how hard they have been hit financially over recent years.”
Future uses for the site will be assessed against plans for the wider regeneration of Oldham town centre, including the overhaul of Spindles shopping centre and the redevelopment of a clutch of key sites totalling 24 acres in the town centre that are earmarked for 2,000 homes.
