Work will start later this year on a £5m development that will bring three major high street leisure brands to Dudley town centre. The Stoford-led project promises to create at least 80 jobs.
An artist’s impression of the new Castlegate, Dudley, development
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has now granted detailed planning consent for the Castlegate Business Park scheme which includes a Greene King pub, a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through restaurant and a Costa Coffee outlet. A fourth unit is expected to be speculatively developed on the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) owned land off Birmingham Road.
“This is an exciting project which supports the development of Castle Hill and Dudley town centre by providing complementary visitor facilities,” said Dominic Stokes, a director at Birmingham-based Stoford. He said construction work is expected to start next month with the new tenants trading by the summer of 2016.
Castlegate Business Park is already home to several restaurants including Frankie and Benny’s and Pizza Hut. It also has a Showcase Cinema. Two years ago Stoford completed a 10,000 sq ft two-storey office complex at the park for the Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust.
Councillor Khurshid Ahmed is cabinet member for planning and economic development on the West Midlands authority. “This latest scheme is very welcome as it provides job opportunities for local people while complementing the exciting and innovative developments we have already put in place or in the pipeline,” he said.
“Our ambition is to make Castle Hill a major regional destination bringing more people and investment into the town than ever before by encouraging new businesses into the area and promoting tourism opportunities for visitors.
“This clearly demonstrates that Dudley is open for business and we welcome and support these new businesses coming into the town,” Ahmed added.
For the retail site’s owner, the HCA’s head of asset management Steve Holland commented: “This project will further improve the offer of Castlegate Business Park as a destination venue and also the wider regeneration of Dudley which we are supporting.”
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