As reported in the Friday edition of the Medway Messenger this week, a major investor has purchased the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham.
The 330,000 sq ft shopping centre at the heart of the town centre was aquired by UK community shopping centre specialist firm Ellandi on December 9, 2015. It was sold to the firm for £42 million, and was one of the first aquistions when they teamed up with major investment company Bridges Venture to develop a portfolio of shopping centres last year. According to the information page on the Ellandi website about the Pentagon Shopping Centre, it is planned that the centre will be refurbished and given a 'major new look and feel to it'. The centre will be redeveloped to provide new major retail space units, a large superstore and new leisure facilities. The firm also say that there are potential opportunities for national and regional retailers to have stores within the scheme on 'either a short or long term basis'. Ambitious plans were drawn up by architecture studio Haskoll back in 2008 for the previous shopping centre owners, however they informed us that no further progress had taken place since. The impressive drawings showed a contemporary new look for the centre, with the former bus station redeveloped for expanded retail space and new public spaces created. So, the pentagon has been sold again!!!!!! Dec 2015, the original buyer bought, then refused to do anything until the bus station was removed, so our council tax paid for the new improved bus station, and then the buyer decides to sell on, with no bus station on site, no doubt at a healthy profit from when the bus station was integral. Are the council going to recover the costs of the bus station, as without the promised development it would never have moved. I agree the new bus station is better looking and cleaner,but council money should not be used to make private sector profit Comments are closed.
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August 2023
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