Plans to pump £400k into Grafton Centre approved after proposals to demolish it paused
25.01.2022 - 18:32
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Plans to invest £400,000 into Altrincham ’s Grafton Centre have been approved.
Trafford council’s executive voted to invest the funds into the town centre shopping complex last night (Monday January 24) after the pandemic forced plans to redevelop the site to be paused.
The £400,000 will be funded through borrowing and aims to to breathe new life into the centre and secure its long-term future.
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Coun Nathan Evans, Conservative group leader, raised the concern of one of the shopping centre units having traces of asbestos in it and queried if the investment was going to be put towards remediation work to tackle that.
Council officers confirmed this would be covered within the £400k investment.
The council will now focus on filling the vacant units in the complex and managing its existing renters there; any proposals for a major redevelopment has been paused for now.
Trafford council bought the shopping centre and hotel in 2018 for £10.8m and brought property experts CBRE on board in 2020 to assess options for the site.
The firm carried out an appraisal of all options to help the council decide what the centre’s future will look like.
Trafford council had already begun the procurement process looking for developers to work on the site before coronavirus hit, but had to put this on hold during the pandemic.
Now, redevelopment plans for the site remain paused and the immediate plan for the building is for the council to manage existing tenants and work to re-let vacant units in the shopping centre.
The report updating the council on the situation said: “The council still has clear ambitions to redevelop the centre; deliver a regenerative benefit to the