THE national restaurant chain Wagamama is to create 50 jobs in a new outlet in Dorchester.
The award-winning Japanese inspired restaurant, has signed up for the town’s Brewery Square development.
The restaurant will occupy 3,095 sq ft. in the listed Bonded Stores building, with a dining terrace overlooking the square’s fountains.
Wagamama joins Pizza Express, Café Rouge, Odeon Cinemas, Premier Inn and fashion retailer Hobbs in the pre-let line up.
The main square is set to open in October 2012.
Brewery Square is developing more than 11 acres of the former Eldridge Pope Brewery and is the largest town centre regeneration project in the South West. The project includes 40 shops, six restaurants, two hotels, The Dorchester Spa, cinema, theatre, an NHS Atrium Health Centre, garden square apartments and townhouses.
The £100million scheme is being developed by Waterhouse, a specialist urban regeneration company and Resolution Property, a leading real estate investment company. Andrew Wadsworth, director of Waterhouse, said: “We are delighted to welcome the iconic Wagamama to Brewery Square; a fantastic addition to the Brewery Square project.
“With an affluent catchment of 230,000, we are sure it will be a very popular restaurant.”
Steve Hill, chief executive officer of Wagamama, added: “Wagamama is excited to be opening in one of the listed buildings at Brewery Square; with a dining terrace overlooking the fountains in the square it promises to be a great location for us; we are expecting it to be a destination restaurant in the heart of the county town.”
Mr Wadsworth revealed last week that the proposed four-star hotel was under offer and that it would be increased from 48 beds to 53.
He added that 80 per cent of the residential apartment had been pre-sold in buildings that were underway and up to 20 per cent pre-sold in some buildings where work hadn’t even begun.
Construction on phase two of the scheme has now been underway for six months and several of the major buildings for the next stage of the project were taking shape. These included the nursing home at Signature House and the building that will house the Premier Inn hotel.
The next element of the development will be centred around the main square, with its centrepiece fountain, and Mr Wadsworth said that was likely to be completed next autumn.
Mr Wadsworth said: “We are currently projecting that the square will open next October.”
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