The covers are coming off, the internal fit’s underway, and an application is now in so the signage can go up on the Co-op’s new development at Charing Cross in St Helier.
The retailer’s £12million scheme will see a new Grand Marche supermarket opening on the site, as well as a 91-room Premier Inn hotel.
The Channel Islands Cooperative Society has now made its formal application to planners to put up signage on the building, which is due to be completed in the next few months, and be ready to open by the summer of 2018.
The journey has been a long one for the society, after their plans for the town centre site faced opposition from heritage campaigners over their initial attempt to demolish old buildings on the Pitt Street side.
A compromise was eventually reached, allowing those same campaigners to take on the historical parts of the development.
A cafe is already earmarked for one of those buildings. Locke’s will be run by Drew and Ella Locke, who are already raising awareness of their brand and their passion for the perfect brew at their coffee cart on Queen’s Street.
At the launch of the development, before work began, Co-op chief executive Colin Macleod said: “This development will provide substantial investment in the Jersey community with the creation of both short-term and long-term employment opportunities, restoration of potentially listed buildings, promotion of the arts and the complete regeneration of a part of town which has been under-utilised and remained stagnant for far too long.”
