Chester Growth Prospectus to showcase city’s investment opportunities

A new Growth Prospectus highlighting development opportunities in Chester is set to launch at the London HQ of property firm Grosvenor Group later this month.

The prospectus will showcase Chester’s various strengths as a business hub and its pipeline of developments, including the Central Business Quarter – a project to create 500,000 sq ft of retail space, offices and residential units near Chester railway station.

The city’s Northgate scheme will also feature prominently in the prospectus. The plan, comprising open shopping streets and squares, has the £37m cultural centre Storyhouse as its centrepiece along with a new hotel and revamped market hall.

The Chester Growth Partnership, the organisation tasked with driving Chester’s One City Plan project – a 15 year strategy to guide city towards future economic growth – has arranged the London event.

Chester Growth Partnership chair Guy Butler commented: “In just a few short years we’ve seen over £250m of public and private sector funds invested in Chester and over 1,000 new jobs created or forecast to be delivered as a result of implementing projects envisaged by the One City Plan, which was first published in 2012.

“This is an exciting time for Chester and there’s much more to come. We are working on upgrades to the rail infrastructure so that Chester has even better links to the emerging Northern Powerhouse.”

He continued: “We’ve seen the successful completion of schemes such as the Fountains, a mixed-use scheme and One City Place, where Muse Developments has set new standards in terms of specification and quality for office space in Chester city centre.

“The second phase of the new Pepper Street restaurant quarter is coming to the market now and the new bus exchange is taking shape before our eyes.”

The London event, Guy explained, is part of the Chester Growth Partnership’s campaign to ensure Chester’s success as a “premier destination” for property investment.

Phil Mayall, Muse’s development director, commented: “The big picture for Chester is very positive. The city’s location offers many advantages for business and there’s an undeniably attractive lifestyle offer.

“The regeneration strategy is about building on the strong base of being a heritage city.”

He added: “One City Place is the fulcrum of a new Central Business District that will help Chester make the most of its potential as a business location and allow the city centre to become more economically productive.”

North West law firm DTM Legal is a member of the infrastructure arm of the Chester Growth Partnership.

Sally Pilott, a property lawyer with DTM, said: “There’s a great deal of energy and focus on unlocking the potential here.

“Chester sits at the centre of a cross-border economy, between the North Wales and the Mersey Dee region. We are working on improving rail links.”

She added: “This is a dynamic region where 70k new jobs are viable within the next 20 years. Infrastructure will fast track the doubling of our existing GVA to £50.5bn.”

The launch event will take place on June 29.

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