Watson lodges plans for £100m Church Wharf in Bolton
A 130-bedroom hotel and 415 homes are planned on a 7.5-acre chunk of the town centre that has long been earmarked for redevelopment.
Watson Homes has submitted its plans for the £100m scheme to Bolton Council, having agreed a deal to acquire the site from the local authority last year. The application is lodged in hybrid form with detailed consent sought for 398 homes across six blocks and outline consent for the remaining homes and the hotel.
Rob Watson, director of Watson, said: “Church Wharf is not just about new buildings, it’s about revitalising Bolton town centre with much-needed housing, dynamic commercial and leisure spaces, together with a hotel that will bolster the local economy, enhancing the lives of the community.
“As members of the Bolton community, we are proud to be part of Bolton Town Centre’s regeneration master plan. We are committed to making a long-lasting, positive impact on the communities we serve.”
If approved, construction will begin this summer and the four-phase project would conclude in 2029, according to Watson. P4 Planning is advising Watson and Jmarchitects is leading on design.
The GMCA selected Church Wharf as one of more than 90 projects to receive a share of £115m brownfield housing funding. The development is in line to benefit from a £5.2m grant.
Part of a wider £1bn regeneration plan for Bolton, the original vision for the £150m Church Wharf was for almost 300 homes, as well as 130,000 sq ft of commercial space and a hotel, off Folds Road and Manor Street east of the town centre.
Muse was previously working on Church Wharf as the council’s development partner and won planning permission for the project in 2019. That scheme did not materialise and Bolton went back out to the market for a development partner last year.
Thriving Investments, with backing from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the GMPF, is in talks to deliver the first phase of the £150m Church Wharf scheme.
Part of Places for People, Thriving Investments has been selected as the preferred delivery model for the affordable homes element of the Bolton project, according to a council report.
Thriving Investments, through a newly-created Greater Manchester-focussed fund, would acquire three plots of land from Watson Homes – the scheme’s master developer – to bring forward more than 200 discounted homes, subject to council approval.
- Credit: via Rumpus PR
- Credit: via Rumpus PR
- Credit: via Rumpus PR
There is a great hidden potential for hotels in Bolton town center given the regeneration and university and crucially the very short train journey to Manchester city center makes it a great alternative to staying in Manchester itself for concerts and football matches.
By David Jones
All of proper Manchester has moved on but you still in the land of Fred ..Great bloke though..miss his lyrical
By Patrick