The applications were submitted to St Edmundsbury Borough Council following lengthy pre-application discussions with planning officers and presentations to Haverhill Town Council and ONE Haverhill. The proposals represent a huge investment in the town and will transform this key gateway site.
The former Project Office Furniture site on Ehringshausen Way has remained undeveloped for six years since the previous anchor tenant, Wickes, pulled out.
Pre-sale and pre-let deals have been agreed with national retailers Lidl, Home Bargains and Pets At Home. The remaining retail unit is being marketed by retained agents Bidwells. Home Bargains will take a 13,500 sq ft pre-let with a yard area, Lidl is set to occupy 14,500 sq ft for its new store, and Pets At Home will take 6,000 sq ft.
Colin Brown, development manager at Howard Group, said: “We have been delighted with the response to our statement of intent to develop thissite. We understand how eager the people of Haverhill are to see action and we fully intend get this development off the ground in late spring/early summer 2016 subject to securing the required consents.
“By bringing four new national retailers into the town we will be adding to the retail mix, creating hundreds of new jobs and bringing to life what has been a fairly tired looking site for a number of years.”
For more information about Howard Group, please visit howard-ventures.com