Preferred bidder chosen for city regeneration site

Stoke-on-Trent City Council hopes the Etruscan Square site will help revitalise the city centre

A preferred partner has been chosen to help redevelop a site which council bosses hope will help Stoke-on-Trent city centre.

Etruscan Square in Hanley - previously a bus station and shopping precinct - is set to be redeveloped to provide almost 300 homes, with details still to be settled on the mix of leisure and commercial uses for the rest of the site.

Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Limited has been chosen as the frontrunner for the scheme, which was allocated £20m of funding from the government's levelling up programme.

Bosses now hope it can put an end to a series of false dawns for the site.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker said: "Etruscan Square is one of the most significant regeneration sites in our city, and for far too long people have been promised action but have seen little progress."

He added he understood how frustrating it was to see empty sites.

"It's a waste, and it's stopping our city from reaching its full potential," he said.

The council said once the process of choosing a partner for the scheme was formally completed, the plans for housing, leisure and commercial development could progress.

In a statement the authority said it intended site surveys to be carried out later this year and for construction to begin in 2027.

Etruscan Square was one of the Midlands' largest cleared city centre regeneration sites, spanning about seven acres, the authority added.

Construction could begin on the site in 2027, the authority said, with preparatory work due to get under way in 2026

The council's opposition group leader, Daniel Jellyman, criticised the appointment involving Genr8 Developments – which is part of the joint venture consortium – and said the firm had not yet completed work promised at the nearby Smithfield site.

Existing buildings there – including the Hilton hotel, Smithfield One, Smithfield Two and Clayworks as well as the Smithfield car park – had only been completed because they had financial backing from the local authority, he added.

Jellyman said: "Smithfield is not a completed development site.

"Every development that has happened there has only happened because the city council has stumped up the cash.

"They failed to get any significant private sector investment in Smithfield. Why do we think they're going to achieve it with Etruscan Square?"

Richard Ingham, director at Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Limited, said his firm had a track record in delivering large-scale regeneration schemes across the UK.

He added: "We look forward to collaborating closely with the council, and to delivering long-term economic and social value to local residents and businesses."