Out of the 14 restaurant spaces, 10 have been pre-let to Nando’s, Handmade Burger, Coast to Coast, Prezzo, Ask Italian, TGI Fridays, Frankie and Benny's, Chiquito, Bill’s and Giraffe.
The venues will sit on Exeter Road, next to a 2,000 seat Odeon cinema and opposite the Terrace Mount development – a £60m mixed-use hotel and residential complex led by Hilton and currently in construction.
Construction
Financed by Legal & General Property’s Leisure Fund, the 120,000 sq ft town centre regeneration scheme is being developed by Licet Holdings, with VINCI Construction UK as the construction contractor. Construction started today (1 December), and will take 18 months to complete.
Andrew Ferguson, head of leisure at Legal & General Property, said:“After years without a dedicated family-orientated leisure offer within Bournemouth’s town centre, significant steps forward are at last being achieved to realise the potential of this key site.
“Without question this is the most eagerly anticipated cinema and restaurant-led leisure development that the UK has seen in the past ten years and we are extremely proud to act as its forward funding partner.
“Backed by some of the UK’s top leisure operators, we believe this development will not only add a vibrant, high-quality leisure offer that strongly appeals to the local population and visitors from much further afield, but it will act as a major catalyst to Bournemouth’s wider regeneration.”
Years of planning
Chris Dymond, director of Licet Holdings, added: “Following many years of rigorous planning, working with the council and our partners, it is all signed and sealed and we are delighted to be starting the construction of this unique and vibrant attraction, clearly signalling that Bournemouth is very much open for business.”
The complex was originally granted consent in 2007, but development was delayed because of the economic downturn.