Nottingham’s notorious eyesore ‘Boots Island’ warehouse site could finally be redeveloped after a company agreed to buy it.
Lavignac Securities Ltd has exchanged contracts on the 38-acre site in the city’s east side near Nottingham Station, between London Road and Manvers Street.
The vast warehouse and wasteland complex has been left crumbling and derelict for decades.
Planning permission was granted in 2008 for a new housing and office development but this has now expired.
After losing patience with the slow progress, Nottingham City Council announced in June it was considering forcing the current owners Heathcote Holdings Limited to sell the site, using a compulsory purchase order.
Tuesday’s announcement means this is now unlikely to be necessary, with Heathcote having agreed to sell to Lavignac.
City Council leader Jon Collins said: “We have waited far too long for someone to fulfil this site’s potential and we look forward to seeing Lavignac’s plans to turn Eastside from a derelict area into a site the city can be proud of.”
According to the council, Lavignac intends to bring forward plans by early 2017 and start development as early as the end of the year.
The company is a property management and development firm, with a head office in London.
Its chief executive Greg Miller-Cheevers, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this hugely important strategic site on the east side of Nottingham city centre and look forward to working with all stakeholders to bring forward its successful regeneration.”
Historically, the site was home of the Jesse Boot empire and a powerhouse of Nottingham commerce but for decades now, it has largely been derelict.
The land was earmarked almost 30 years ago by John Major’s ‘Government City Challenge’ initiative as Nottingham’s answer to Canary Wharf – a community of homes, restaurants and offices built around canal extensions, but nothing materialised.
Plans for how the site could be developed now were drawn up in April by the council, including 500 apartments, 66,000 sq m of business space, including offices and research facilities.
