DEVELOPERS of a new retail park in Weymouth have revealed progress is on target - and expect both drive-thrus for Costa and McDonald's to be operational by early summer.
The Weymouth Gateway scheme will include three ‘big box’ retail warehouse units, two restaurants and coffee shops, which are currently being built on a brownfield site east of Mercery Road.
READ MORE: Photos show start of multi-million Weymouth retail park
The undeveloped land, opposite the Aldi supermarket, will include outlets such as B&M, Dunelm, Costa and McDonald’s.
The retail development is set to create hundreds of jobs and provide a major boost to Weymouth’s economy, while expected to generate between £5 million to £6 million in business rates every year.
Development partners LondonMetric Property and Avercet broke ground for the project back in October last year.
Chris Newns, director of Avercet, said: "All construction closed for the Christmas period, which is standard practice within the industry, but work restarted this week and progress is currently on programme.
"We expect the drive-thru for both Costa and McDonald's to be operational by early summer compared to the rest of the units. The reason for this is the construction for Costa and McDonald's is quicker.
"For the rest of the units, we expect work to be complete by August 31.
The units will then be handed over to the tenants, which then have a fitting-out period of between eight to 10 weeks.
"It's coming together and we’re hopeful to deliver the development - subject to no new Covid restrictions - by this calender year."
Mr Newns said the first phase of the project was the new Aldi in Mercery Road, which opened on September 3 2020.
The contractor leading the build is Dorset-based Mildren Construction, which also constructed the Aldi supermarket.
He added: "At long last it’s moving ahead to deliver the jobs we promised four years ago.
"All planning applications have been accepted for the retail part and all units have been let.
"It's predicted all trading, from our current planning applications, to be fully operational by November this year.
"I can reveal we're speaking to a number of other brands for the site, but new planning applications would be needed for that.
"We will be concluding talks with these brands within the next two months - It’s all positive."
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