New Riverside owners vow to 'inject new life' into the 'ailing' shopping centre - The Evesham Observer

New Riverside owners vow to 'inject new life' into the 'ailing' shopping centre

Evesham Editorial 3rd Aug, 2017 Updated: 4th Aug, 2017   0

THE new owners of the ailing Riverside Shopping Centre have vowed to breathe new life into the venue as they begin to draw up plans to revitalise the heart of Evesham.

Stratford-upon-Avon based Chase Commercial have snapped up the centre after it was put on the market by previous owners Aviva Investors.

The centre in the heart of the town centre been struggling in recent years and Aviva, who bought the building in 2015, also vowed to turn around the centre’s ailing fortunes.

However, no progress ever seemed to be made in tackling the downturn at the Riverside which forced Wychavon District Council bosses to demand Aviva sell up in March.




And now contracts have been exchanged, the centre’s new owners have said they have already begun to look at options to bring the town centre building ‘back to life.’

High on their agenda will be filling the empty shops which now make up 50 per cent of the centre and discovering how the Riverside can compete with out-of-town shopping destinations in Evesham.


Julian Meredith, director at Chase Commercial Ltd, said: “I am pleased to confirm that we have exchanged contracts to purchase Riverside.

“The centre has been owned by a London based pension fund for a considerable time, who have managed the asset from afar.

“As a local company, we know Evesham and we are well aware the centre is presently at very low ebb, having been in steady decline for a number of years.

“It is our aim to inject new life into the shopping centre and make it more attractive to both occupiers and visitors alike, which will in turn benefit both the high street and the town as a whole.”

“The current construction of the new Waitrose supermarket shows the potential that Evesham town centre holds.

“We are very much looking forward to exploring what we can do to Riverside but we also recognise that this will not happen overnight and therefore no immediate changes will be seen.”

 

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