New Molineux Quarter still on the table to improve area around Wolves stadium
New plans for a Molineux Quarter have been unveiled as part of a drive to attract major investors into Wolverhampton.
The city council launched its new investment prospectus at the UKREiiF property conference in Leeds, in a bid to bring in billions of pounds of investment to change the face of the city.
And redeveloping the area around the Wolves ground is central to the plans, with council chiefs determined to secure the private funding required to get the long-mooted scheme off the ground.
Plans for a 'football quarter' – which included a new hotel and increasing the capacity of Molineux – were first unveiled in the days before the pandemic hit in March 2020.
Wolves owners Fosun then appeared to shelve plans to redevelop the stadium, although chairman Jeff Shi has since said an upgrade could take place "when the time is right".
The prospectus says the Molineux Quarter will feature a "comprehensive redevelopment of new academic buildings, mixed-use development and public realm".
Wolverhampton Council leader Ian Brookfield told the Express & Star that Wolves were "fully on board" with plans to redevelop the area around Molineux.
He said any scheme was dependent on attracting "the right investors" and was likely to include a major hotel.
"Both the council and Wolves are landowners and there is definitely a will on our part, and on the part of Jeff Shi, to get things moving," he said.
Councillor Brookfield said the UKREiiF event saw major developers queuing up to invest in Wolverhampton.
"We lined up some of the biggest developers in the country and they were knocking down the door to invest in our city," he said.
"They can see that London and Manchester are burned out and they want to develop and invest in Wolverhampton."
The prospectus is aimed at showing off Wolverhampton to potential investors, to bring more office and leisure development to the city.
It dubs Wolverhampton "the city of opportunity" for businesses. It highlights investment opportunities around areas including the Interchange, St Georges, Brewers Yard and the Science Park.
It adds: "Wolverhampton has been steadily strengthening its reputation as a city with significant development and investment, delivering new opportunities, homes, and enhanced connections.
"The city has a distinctive identity, with a dynamic, welcoming atmosphere and can-do attitude. Wolverhampton use this as a strength to complement the new 3 Cities initiative with Birmingham and Coventry, and leverage each city’s uniqueness and collective scale to attract investment together.
"Wolverhampton is a city on the rise. The last 10 years has seen major successes, including investment by Jaguar Land Rover at the £1 billion i54 business park, £250 million investment in the university, establishment of DLUHC [Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities] new headquarters at i9 next to the award winning i10 office, and the delivery of phase 1 of the new railway station at the £150 million transport interchange."
