Starbucks looks set to help drive ‘thru’ a multi-million pound regeneration of Grimsby’s former Ramsdens Superstore site.
The world’s most popular coffee house has been revealed as the first operator to commit to the landmark Grimsby location, four years after the shutters were pulled down on the centrepiece of the renowned family business.
A drive-thru and eat-in cafe is proposed for the key route into Cleethorpes, with plans now submitted to North East Lincolnshire Council.
It is the first step in what is billed as an “exciting new retail and leisure destination,” with the 1,800 sq ft site to front the Cleethorpe Road and Park Street junction.
Nick Ramsden, managing director of Ramsden Group, which continues to operates retail, wholesale and export businesses from Grimsby, said: “We’re excited to announce Starbucks as the first occupier and to submit plans that will pave the way for the delivery of the scheme as a whole.
“The Starbucks investment will enable this key regeneration project to get under way, bring new life to a derelict site and deliver major improvements to the street scene.
“This will be the first stage in a major, private sector-led development that will transform the local area and bring significant investment, new businesses and jobs to Grimsby.”
It is hoped 200 jobs would be created in the wider scheme, with the high-profile brand seen as a major stimulus for the development.
Mr Ramsden said: “Now, more than ever, Grimsby and its people need investment and a vote of confidence, which this scheme will deliver.
“This is a deliverable and sustainable development which will bring much-needed new jobs to an area of high unemployment and extend the benefits of regeneration to this part of Grimsby.”
Ramsdens Superstore closed in April 2016, with the site with a convenience outlet created on Fiveways and the Home Interiors business remaining further along Cleethorpe Road.
Approval would see the development to move into its delivery phase, with construction scheduled to start this autumn and the café expected to open in spring 2021.
Full planning permission is in place for 89,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space on the site that spans just over four acres.
The plans for the Starbucks feature extensive landscaping, including a “living fence” screening cars using the drive-thru, with further temporary landscaping offering views through into site as it evolves.
Ramsden Group’s development partner is Hull-based Wykeland Group, the company responsible for Europarc and several major North Bank regeneration projects.
Development director Jonathan Stubbs said: “We’re delighted to have Starbucks on board for this major regeneration scheme. Pending planning approval, we’re looking forward to beginning the transformation of this key site.
“We’re talking to potential occupiers who are interested in being part of a landmark development that will bring greater choice of shopping and leisure options to Grimsby and make a significant contribution to the overall regeneration of the town.”
The development had initially been recommended for refusal by planners, with objections from Freshney Place stating it threatened the viability of the then as yet realised Primark expansion and the cinema development. Councillors disagreed, passing the project in 2015. Primark completed but the cinema scheme stalled when Lincolnshire’s largest shopping centre was put up for sale.
Morrisons was granted planning consent for a Starbucks drive-thru at the Laceby store, but it has yet to materialise, with Costa also enjoying planning consent at Birchin Way, Grimsby. The approvals book-ended 2019.
Investment opportunities within the development are available, from 1,500 sq ft upwards. John Reid of WSB Property Consultants is acting for the developers.
