Home town investor outlines vision to bring West Bromwich shopping centre 'back to life'
A property developer from West Bromwich wants to buy up a shopping centre to bring new life to his home town.
Sam Ginda has set up a new company called Future High Street Living and aims to invest in town centres, helping to revive them with new retail and residential developments.
He wants to start with Queens Square Shopping Centre in West Bromwich.
With just 40 per cent currently occupied, his investment in the shopping centre would see the retail provision consolidated into one area, alongside a residential development including 84 new houses and more than 200 residential apartments, plus improvements to the surroundings to make the area a more pleasant place to visit.
Mr Ginda is joint chief executive of property development and investment firm, Taylor Grange – which was recently involved in unlocking and securing planning permission at a site in Oldbury to build more than 250 homes with Lovell Homes.
His new initiative will focus on locations such as commuter belt towns and smaller cities, aiming to support high streets in need of regeneration by bringing forward new schemes that will help boost footfall and create jobs.
He said: “The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the retail crisis and it’s incredibly sad to see the demise of the high street hastened, with many big names shutting their doors for good. Urgent action is needed to reinvigorate these areas that were once at the heart of local communities.
“Future High Street Living is all about bringing struggling high streets back to life by investing in developments that will introduce new housing and new reasons to visit these areas yet again,” said Mr Ginda.
Mr Ginda took it upon himself to track down the owners of Queens Square pre-pandemic to unlock and accelerate the pace of delivery on a focal brownfield site in the heart of West Bromwich.
He said: “Having grown up in West Bromwich, I feel so passionately about doing my part to help an area that’s in real need of regeneration and I couldn’t bear to see how this part of the town centre has declined over the past years. Introducing new homes close to local transport links will create a thriving, sustainable community that encourages people to spend time here.
“Furthermore, developing unused retail space into housing could be a great way of repopulating our high streets from a social standpoint, while also delivering some sorely needed housing stock to the market.”
Mr Ginda tabled his vision with Sandwell Council last year and with the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.
The West Midlands Combined Authority has provided a brownfield grant to SMBC to demolish Bull Street car park next to Queens Square Shopping Centre, which Mr Ginda wishes to incorporate to bring forward a comprehensive and cohesive development.
“The terms proposed we believe not only protect the council’s interest, but in addition will see financial gain for SMBC through bringing this large development forward,” he added.
“For developers working with regional local authorities, Future High Street Living gives them the opportunity to think long-term and embark on projects that they might have not been able to do on their own. For local authorities, working with developers gives them access to much needed capital and talent – an ideal public and private sector partnership.”
The Queens Square shopping centre initiative is the first of a number of projects that he believes can be replicated in other towns and small cities around the country.
