St Modwen signs Development Agreement with Taunton Deane Borough Council on £270 million Firepool regeneration scheme

St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, has signed the partnership agreement with Taunton Deane Borough Council to develop the £270 million regeneration of Firepool in Taunton. The scheme will provide a new commercial heart for the town and forms the first phase of Project Taunton – one of the largest town centre regeneration projects in the South West.

Designated a strategic employment site, the Firepool scheme comprises 16.5 acres of brownfield land on which St. Modwen will develop 500,000 sq ft of office space and more than 400 homes, supported by leisure and retail accommodation. It is anticipated to create 3,500-4,000 jobs and will be developed on a phased basis over an anticipated 12-year period.

Project Taunton covers sites totalling 123-acres and – including the Firepool development – will provide over 800,000 sq ft of employment space, 500,000 sq ft of new retail space, 2,000 new homes and will create opportunities for at least 7,000 new jobs.

Also in the region, St. Modwen has also recently signed the Development Agreement to bring forward the £210 million regeneration of Skypark in Exeter – the most significant employment site in the South West Peninsula. This development will comprise 1.4 million sq ft of office and industrial/manufacturing space and will be built on a phased basis over a 20 year period.

Commenting on the Firepool announcement, Rob Skelston, Development Director, St. Modwen South West/South Wales says:

“Firepool is a fantastic opportunity to create a modern commercial centre that will attract new businesses into the area and benefit the town as whole. We already have a proven track record in the South West working on similar brownfield regeneration projects and creating sustainable urban developments.”

Talking about the future of Firepool, Ian Franklin, Project Director of Project Taunton, said: “This is a tremendous result for Taunton and all credit goes to the team that has worked so hard to get us to this stage. The selection process for the Firepool developer has been a stringent one and we’re confident that St. Modwen is the best company for the job. Our aim has always been to ensure Taunton gets the very best commercial scheme and we make no apologies for setting tough benchmarks throughout. We were impressed by St. Modwen’s approach to the scheme bid and we now look forward to progressing the planning application and commencing building works.”

Recognised as a key social and economic development for the region, the regeneration of Taunton is promoted and supported by Taunton Deane Borough Council, the South West RDA, Somerset County Council and the Environment Agency.

21 April 2009

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