THE first phase of a new retail park in Shipley featuring a Lidl supermarket and a drive-thru Costa Coffee is set to open this summer.
Builders are on-site at the Airedale Mills on Salts Mill Road, where Shipley meets Baildon for the development, known as Shipley Wharf Retail Park.
Work will start on fitting out the Lidl store at the site this summer, ahead of an opening before Christmas, the supermarket giant confirmed. Meanwhile, a drive-thru Costa Coffee will open on the site in late summer.
The supermarket will also create 40 full and part-time jobs in the town.
A Lidl spokesman said: "We are delighted to confirm plans to bring a new store to Shipley and are due to start our fit out works this summer with a view to open the store before Christmas.
"Once opened, the new Lidl store will create up to 40 new full and part-time jobs for the local economy and mark a multi-million pound investment in West Yorkshire.
"We look forward to updating the local community further in due course and to delivering our fresh, quality and affordable produce to residents."
A Costa Coffee spokesman said: “We’re delighted to confirm the opening of a brand new Costa Coffee Drive-Thru store in Shipley, West Yorkshire – coming in late-summer 2021.
"This brand new store will allow for members of the local community to easily and conveniently pick-up their favourite handcrafted coffee.
"We look forward to sharing more details on the brand new store over the coming months.”
Marshall Building Contractors from Elland are due to complete their phase of the project in August to allow the first units to be fitted out.
The retained agents, Simon Williams, of Williams Property Consultants, and David Watson, of Fawley Watson Booth, have both reported strong interest from potential retailers. They added they hope to announce further names for the site in the near future.
The plans also include the groundwork for 'phase two' which could see another two stores built on the site.
It will also have retail units available to rent of between 5,000 and 19,000 sq ft and is currently being marketed.
The site is the former home of Cardinal, a Bradford-based commercial interiors company that moved from the location in 2016. The company’s buildings and warehouses were demolished shortly after.
Pedestrian access from the town centre, as well as a public garden area, will also be included in the retail park’s layout. The development will see improvements made to the walkway along the River Aire, which runs behind the site.
The scheme was previously criticised by Shipley Town Council, which feared the development would draw shoppers out of the town centre.
But the planning application claimed the retail park would: “Help improve consumer choice in the area, bring back into active use a previously developed site, and support a greater number of jobs than the previous use of the site.”
Conditions of the plans include that five per cent of all parking spaces in the development have electric vehicle charging points.
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