The redevelopment will include a six-screen cinema and up to 11 shops and restaurants on the ground and first floors. There will also be 153 studio, one- and two-bedroom flats for private rent built above.
The scheme also includes basement parking for residents and a new pedestrian route connecting the High Street to Marketfield Way.
The development will replace the council’s Marketfield Road surface car park plus 12 shops with offices above in the High Street, opposite the main entrance to The Belfry shopping centre.
“The redevelopment will provide a huge boost to our regeneration ambitions and the local economy by creating hundreds of new jobs and increasing spend in the town,” said Cllr Natalie Bramhall, executive member for property. “The next step now is for the architects to complete the detailed specifications for the scheme and for us to tender the building contract.”
Construction is currently planned to start later in 2017 and be complete in 2019.
The scheme is designed by architect PRP and will be delivered by Coplan Estates.
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