A dilapidated office block which has blighted the Dudley skyline for years has been bought at auction – paving the way for a new £50million retail and leisure development.
Commercial property developer Avenbury Properties secured Cavendish House with a £800,000 bid when it went under the hammer at London auctioneers Allsop.
The seven-storey 85,880 sq ft building, on a 1.3-acre site in the town centre, will be demolished under Avenbury’s proposals which will see restaurants, shops and homes built alongside a supermarket.
The Porter’s Field development could create up to 500 new jobs and give the Black Country town a major regeneration boost.
The proposed project covers an area stretching between Trindle Road and King Street, and between Flood Street and Oakeywell Street. The scheme also aims to improve links between King Street and the rest of the town centre including High Street and market place.
A spokesman for Avenbury Properties said the purchase of Cavendish House clears the way for the project to progress once planning consent is forthcoming from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
It will work closely with planners to deliver a scheme that will see Cavendish House replaced with an exciting retail-led development, creating a vibrant new shopping quarter acting as a catalyst for further regeneration in Dudley.
The company has been impressed by a pipeline of regeneration proposals to improve the Black Country town which it believes will lead to greater numbers of visitors to leisure and shopping facilities.
Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council’s cabinet member for planning and economic development, said: “We are continuing our work with the developers to bring forward the proposals for the top end of Dudley town centre.
“The sale of Cavendish to the partners with whom we are negotiating means that proposals have taken a huge step forward which is excellent news for the town and reinforces our ambition to bring more jobs and investment to Dudley.”