Lindongate Update
Talks are under way with three big retail giants in the hope one will sign up to become the focal point of a £100 million shop development in Lincoln.
Lincolnshire Co-operative hopes planners will grant permission for its revised Lindongate scheme early next year.
But the entire scheme rests upon securing a major retailer to occupy the proposed 100,000 sq ft department store.
Consultant Peter Banks, agent for landowner Lincolnshire Co-operative, said they were in talks with three different companies, but declined to name any of them.
However, he said the aim is for an "absolutely blue chip name" to occupy the anchor store.
"We are talking to three different people about the anchor store and one of them in particular is still talking to us about a September 2015 opening," Mr Banks said.
"What we are saying to people is come and have a look at Lincoln.
"We can make this development happen because we have the land, however, we cannot do it without planning permission. I am talking to people now on the basis that planning permission is going to be granted.
"The Co-operative could sell this site and get money back from Tesco or Asda but that would not create a fashion-led scheme.
"We want the people from Lincoln who shop at Meadowhall to stay here, while attracting others to visit us.
"We can do something in Lincoln that most towns of this size cannot hope to achieve and no-one else but the Co-op can carry on and do this."
The project would include 300,000 sq ft of new retail space, 875 car parking spaces and riverside restaurants with apartments, as well as a transport interchange with a new bus station next to the train station and a footbridge connecting Tentercroft Street and Sincil Bank with the city centre.
Forty-one full-time building jobs will be created during construction, plus up to 2,590 full and part-time jobs within the completed development. There are more than 3,000 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Lincoln.
The new-look proposal was put out to consultation in July and won overwhelming support from the public.
The revised scheme is centred around Sincil Street, St Mary's Street, Waterside South and Melville Street and was first mooted in 2008.
Changes made to the application include alterations to the bus station, the footbridge from Tentercroft Street, a reduction in height of the buildings behind Sincil Street and alterations to the road layout.
The revised application can be viewed at City Hall until November 18.
