MAJOR work on Basildon’s newest retail park which is set to be home to a host of big names is nearing completion, new pictures show.
St Hilary’s Retail Park, in Miles Gray Road, is due to welcome guests this summer to the new south Essex shopping hub.
It is boasting a string of big-name brands, including Lidl, Starbucks, Greggs and Tile Mountain, which will deliver a huge boost to the town’s economy.
Building work has been ongoing at the site in recent months with firms submitting planning applications as they finish work at each unit. Lidl has applied to Basildon Council for permission to put up a 3m totem sign with its logo at the site.
It comes as Greggs was given the green light to install three air conditioning units at its building. Last month, Starbucks - the world’s largest coffee house chain - has been granted planning permission by Basildon Council to convert one of the remaining units at the retail park.
The new coffee shop will boast 96 seats inside plus 12 outside.
However, there is one final retail unit yet to have an occupier announced.
But the latest images of the new retail destination show that the development has almost hit completion. Disabled and regular parking bays have been marked on the huge forecourt tarmac and four electric vehicle charging points have been installed.
Black and white brick flooring decks the pathways and plants and trees have been slotted into the ground for landscaping.
Fryerns ward Labour councillor David Kirkman said: “I think it’s going to be a good thing because it will create jobs and bring in money for the Basildon economy.
“Out-of-town retail parks are good because people can easily jump in and out as they don’t have to pay to park.
“I really hope it does well.”
There is one unit still to be filled at the site with no details on which brands will fill it yet.
A stone’s throw away, work is rapidly progressing on the new Tim Horton’s restaurant, which is a Canadian sandwich, burger and coffee chain. Workers on site have now put in double-doors and windows around the bottom half of the cream and black cladded building and started to outline the drive-thru route.
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