7th Mar 2005 07:00
Warner Estate Holdings PLC07 March 2005 Warner Estate Holdings PLC WARNER ESTATE RECEIVES PLANNING APPROVAL FOR £30 MILLION BOLTON RETAIL SCHEME Warner Estate Holdings PLC ('Warner Estate'), the property investment anddevelopment company, has today announced, on behalf of the Agora Shopping CentreFund, that it has been granted planning consent for a £30 million scheme toredevelop Bolton's Market Hall, which forms part of the Agora Fund's MarketPlace Shopping Centre in Bolton. The scheme involves the restoration of the Grade II listed Market Hall toprovide an additional 9,200 sq m (100,000 sq ft) of retail space together with aseparate new building fronting Bridge Street which will house cafes andrestaurants. Warner Estate manages Market Place Shopping Centre on behalf of the £400 millionAgora Fund, its 50/50 joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate. The AgoraFund is dedicated to investing and actively managing its portfolio of sevenshopping centres in the Northwest. Richard Moore, Property Director of Warner Estate commented, " We are delighted with this decision. The restoration of The Market Hallrepresents a major investment in Bolton's retail future and demonstrates ourlong-term commitment to the town. The scheme will provide much needed largerunits for Bolton, which will fulfil the identified requirements of many nationalretailers. We are also delighted that a number of the existing Market Halltenants are keen to take space in the new scheme, which will create an excitingmix of local independent retailers and national names. " Our proposals support the Bolton Town Centre Strategy and have been drawn upin close collaboration with English Heritage. We are confident the completedscheme will be a source of pride to the town". Work on the development is expected to start in summer 2006. -ends- Date: 7 March 2005For further information contact: Warner Estate Holdings PLC City ProfilePhilip Warner, Chairman Simon CourtenayRichard Moore, Property Director Oliver WintersPeter Collins, Finance Director Tel: 020-7488-3244Michael Stevens, Operations DirectorTel: 020-7907-5100Web: www.warnerestate.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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