An empty building in a Nottinghamshire town centre will be transformed into 29 residential homes. The former Marks and Spencer Building in Newark has stood empty since 2019 when the retailer closed the store but plans could see works to the building start this summer.
Once an award of contract has been made, Newark and Sherwood District Council hope to appoint a developer over the next few weeks to progress the plans for new homes and retail units on Stodman Street. The new homes will provide additional town centre housing for the area, and the plans also include two refurbished retail units which will improve Newark’s retail offer.
Councillor David Lloyd, Co-Chair of Newark Town Board and Leader at Newark and Sherwood District Council, explains: “We want our town centres to have a thriving future where living, working, shopping, leisure and enjoyment come together. While Newark performs well compared to the UK average for numbers of vacant town centre retail units, it’s important that we continue to do all we can to attract people.
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“Retail change shouldn’t mean town centre decline. It should be an opportunity. By repurposing an important site in the centre of the town, we hope to inject new life in the area with the aim to make the heart of Newark a great place to live and shop. Newark is unique and has so much to offer already with fantastic independent retails sitting alongside national stores, but this development really will add to the vitality of our historic market town.
“I am delighted that we are hoping to appoint a building contractor imminently and that work will hopefully start this summer.” The District Council has already completed preliminary work at the empty site, which included removing large amounts of asbestos and clearing the internal partition walls to prepare the site for the proposed re-development.
Despite inflationary pressures, the District Council said it will not leave the building vacant any longer, but despite approaching a long list of retailers to occupy the store the council claim the current unit is too large for most traders in town centre locations. Once approval is sought from Cabinet on 21 February 2023, the District Council will pursue development.
Subject to Cabinet approval and agreement with the appointed contractor, the council is optimistic that work on the site could begin during late summer. This would then see the construction phase occur at the end of 2023 with the building completed in summer 2025.
The Stodman Street development is one of the projects being funded by Newark Towns Board’s successful application to the Government’s Towns Fund initiative. Other projects include the £3m restoration of Newark Castle, a £2.1m cultural project aiming to provide a varied and exciting events programme.
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