The leader of Lichfield District Council has blamed a “challenging retail and funding market” for delays to the Friarsgate redevelopment.
The long-awaited city centre scheme has so far failed to materialise, with the majority of recent discussions about the project held behind closed doors.
But Cllr Mike Wilcox has moved to allay any fears the retail, leisure and residential project was in jeopardy.
“We have achieved a number of key Friarsgate project milestones,” he said.
“We are now working in partnership with U+I to assemble the final piece of the jigsaw, which is the funding to deliver the scheme, despite facing a challenging financial and retail market.”
Concerns over the progress of the redevelopment had been raised in a report last summer where the council admitted it was disappointed by the progress so far.
However, that document had anticipated work would begin by now.
“There are signs that the funding market is becoming more stable, enabling a start on site in 2017,” the report, which was published last June, said.
However, progress on the Friarsgate scheme has been slow since. Work has taken place to clear parts of the site, including the former Tempest Ford garage, while bore holes were drilled in February ahead of plans to start building work.
The redevelopment is expected to bring between eight and ten food and drink establishments and approximately 20 shops, with 82 apartments and 11 townhouses to the city centre.
An operator for the proposed multi-screen cinema on the site was confirmed in 2016, with Cllr Wilcox predicting in 2015 that the announcement would be “a game-changer” and lead to an acceleration in the pace of the Friarsgate scheme.
Speaking to LichfieldLive in 2015, he said: “We want the city to be a destination incorporating a leisure time, retail spend as well as eating and spending time visiting the area – that’s what we are trying to create through Friarsgate.”
