Member Article

A major land acquisition for Persimmon

A leading house builder has vowed to create over 1600 jobs by giving the site of a famous old factory in Coventry the £70 million facelift it deserves after acquiring the land where it once stood.

Persimmon Homes plans to build up to 700 new homes on the 19.6 hectare site off Foleshill Road, the former home of the world’s leading man-made fibre factory, Courtaulds.

Finalised this week, the land deal will make way for a phased regeneration of the area that will start in May 2015 offering 113 new properties in the first phase. The overall regeneration of the area will provide a range of high quality new homes that will be marketed under the name of Paragon Park.

Andy Peters, managing director at Persimmon Homes South Midlands, said that the regeneration at Paragon Park will breathe new life into the area with an additional 3,500sqft of employment land and a commitment to invest more than £700,000 in education facilities in the area. Furthermore, Broad Heath Primary School will benefit from the creation of a playing field at Websters Park.

Andy said: “This is a landmark deal for us and Coventry that reinforces our commitment to create new homes and jobs for the city. We are aware of the need for new homes in the area with our new developments, The Brooks, Weavers Gate and Bannerbrook Park already proving extremely popular amongst Coventry househunters.”

Delivery of the regeneration is expected to take 8 years with completion of the final phase expected in 2023.

The Courtaulds site dates back to the 1920s and in its height in the 1950s and 1960s, the business employed 5,000 staff, but the buildings have not been used since 2007.

Most of the buildings that formed Courtaulds industrial estate have already been demolished, but the imposing factory façade will be kept to retain the character of the area.

Mr Peters said: “We’ll be looking to push forward with these plans and will be giving people the chance to register their interest in the new homes very shortly.”

For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew McLagan .