Modus Properties - Wigan, Grand Arcade Shopping Centre

Date: 01 Dec 2004

Plans for the first class £120 million Grand Arcade shopping centre in Wigan are well under way, plans that will turn Wigan into one of the Top 80 retail towns in the country. Everything has come together for the developers, Manchester based Modus Properties, who have already succeeded in securing Debenhams as anchor tenants with a 105,000 sq ft (9,755 sq m) unit. Work begins on site this month, November, with completion taking place Easter 2007.

Further to this, Modus have exchanged contracts with a range of other major tenants including; BHS, Marks & Spencer, HMV, WH Smith, JD Sports, Next, Waterstones, Hennes, JJB Sports, Clintons, Streetwise Sports, Chisolm Hunter and TK Maxx. At this point, before a single brick has been laid, there are only 22 units still available, ranging from 1,000 sq ft up to 4,000 sq ft, which means that over 75% of the scheme's floorspace has already been let.

Comprising in excess of 425,000 sq ft (39,483 sq m), Grand Arcade in the heart of Wigan, will be a prestigious fully covered shopping centre with in excess of 800 parking spaces and an estimated footfall per week of 250,000. Plus, following the opening of Grand Arcade, Wigan will move from 131st position in MHE's Index ranking of UK retail venues to 84th. All of this indicates that Grand Arcade will be one of the premier shopping destinations in the region.

The development, by Modus, is the first of their large new wave of comparison shopping schemes branded "The Right Chemistry for Retail". Next on the agenda for Modus will be similar developments in Crewe, Warrington and Newport.

Director Mike Riddell commented that "this is an exciting time in the growth curve of Modus, there is a demand in Wigan for this type of high class modern retail centre and Grand Arcade will provide the space and critical mass that retailers want. This scale of shopping centre development will be repeated in other areas to prove that Modus Properties can and do create 'The Right Chemistry for Retail.'"

Grand Arcade will be built by Yorkshire based builders Shepherd Construction and letting agents for the development are Lunson Mitchenall and SY Moorhouse Wright.

Grand Arcade Shopping Centre, Wigan

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