City centre gets big parking boost

As the 140m business centre Merchant Gate phase one nears completion, English Cities Fund (ECf) and Wakefield Council announced the official opening of the multi-storey car park.

The building on Mulberry Way, next to Westgate station, delivers much-needed car parking for residents, visitors and commuters with 1,451 spaces now available. Wakefield Council, Network Rail and East Coast Mainline occupy a proportion of the car park, which is open 24 hours a day.

The building replaces a smaller Network Rail surface car park of 430 spaces and provides parking for residents and visitors to the city centre.

Emma Cordingley, development director with ECF, said: "This is a significant development for Wakefield city centre as the new multi-storey car park will provide a sustainable solution to the limited parking in the city centre, being ideally located for local residents and commuters alike.

"This is a pivotal week for Merchant Gate with the two-day launch event today and Saturday to celebrate the completion of phase one."

On completion the first phase of Merchant Gate development will also provide 66 contemporary apartments, 35,000sq ft of retail and leisure developments, 48,000sq ft of grade A office space, plus high quality public space in Burgage Square.

The Merchant Gate development is being delivered by ECF, a partnership between Muse Developments, Legal and General and national housing and regeneration agency the Homes and Communities Agency.

Financial support is being provided by Wakefield Council, development agency Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund.

ECF was established in December 2001 to bring institutional investment into regeneration.

So far its portfolio has brought forward six schemes with an estimated total completed development value of around 2bn.

Coun Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Growth said: "We are now embarking on a new era in Wakefield as we start to see the city's regeneration schemes completed.

"The new multi-storey and the Merchant Gate development are just some of the first steps we will see changing, not just the city's skyline, but also what it has to offer residents and visitors."

East Coast Projects and Property Director Tim Hedley-Jones said: "East Coast welcomes the opening of the new multi-storey car park at Wakefield Westgate station, which will provide some much-needed additional capacity, allowing easier access for Leeds and West Yorkshire commuters.

"We hope the new multi-storey car park will become a commuter transport hub, having good road access within the region, and a sub-two hour journey time to the capital."

Wakefield is fortunate in enjoying the luxury of two major developments that it is hoped will lead its recovery, Trinity Walk and Merchant Gate.

Trinity Walk is a major 180m shopping centre in the city centre.

It has created more than 300 construction jobs and should be completed next year.

Earlier this year flats went on sale at the prestigious Merchant Gate development in an area described by ECF as "a new and vibrant urban quarter."

Alongside the apartments, the 17-acre new Merchant Gate development will provide a huge amount of top-class retail and leisure developments, to include restaurants, bars and shops.