Southampton Toys R Us site 'to be redeveloped in 2022'

The Toys R Us chain collapsed in 2018

Work to redevelop a derelict site once home to a Toys R Us is expected to begin in the autumn or winter of 2022.

Plans for a £150m redevelopment of the Western Esplanade, Southampton, were unveiled by the city council in 2019.

The proposals included 275 flats, new restaurants, cafes, shops and an office block.

Fiera Real Estate and Packaged Living have since purchased the site and say it will "meet the pressing need for new homes" in the city centre.

Southampton City Council said Packaged Living was expected to finalise its proposals by the end of 2021.

It said this meant a planning application was likely to go through in the spring, with construction to follow later in the year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council said it was working with the developers "to bring forward a scheme right for the city", and that the amount of homes and commercial accommodation was "likely to be similar" to the previous proposals.

The aim is also to create a promenade from the railway station to the waterfront, the authority added.

Previous plans for a 70,000 sq ft office block on the site were revealed in 2019

The council owns the freehold of the site, while Packaged Living has the leasehold.

The authority's previous administration pledged £27m towards the development, but current council leader Dan Fitzhenry said it would "not be risking taxpayers' money to buy the building".

"Our intention is working with the developer to have good quality housing but also a world class office block funded from the private sector," he said.

But Satvir Kaur, leader of the opposition, said: "If you give away the city's assets to commercial partners, they will do what is best for them rather than what is best for our city."

Packaged Living said a full public consultation process will soon take place.

All 100 Toys R Us stores closed in the UK in 2018 after it fell into administration.