AMBITIOUS plans to redevelop a gateway to Wrexham have taken a radical step forward.
Work to construct a four-storey, 83-bed Premier Inn hotel on the former Jacques Yard site off Regent Street will be completed in the autumn.
Now developers want to build a Majestic Wine Warehouse and a café, bakery or sandwich takeaway on the nearby former Esso garage.
Fifteen full-time and three part-time jobs could be created if plans are given the go-ahead, on top of 30 jobs to be created at the hotel.
Craig Booton, managing director of Liverpool-based Redsun Developments, told the Leader: “We and other developers feel very optimistic about Wrexham.
“We have been trying to secure the site for years and finally we have been able to do so.
“It’s coincidental that the hotel is going up too, but it just shows a general optimism for the future of Wrexham.
“We see the town as a strong commercial centre, especially with the student population.
“This location is high profile and it’s an important gateway. But at the minute it’s like there is a tooth missing from the mouth.”
The Esso garage closed in 2007 and was demolished last week to make way for new development.
Majestic Wine was established in 1980 to distribute and sell an extensive range of wines, beers and spirit via wine warehouse-style outlets.
The store would open from 10am-8pm Monday to Friday and it is estimated that there will be 15-20 customer visits a day, an average of fewer than two per hour.
Thirty car parking spaces have also been proposed.
Mr Booton said: “Majestic Wine has a very specific demography that it aims for, and it’s on the back on its investment that other businesses are attracted. It is almost magnetic.
“This is a very sustainable location because it’s right next to a retail park, it’s on a bus route and it’s opposite a railway park.”
Mr Booton said Redsun was looking to develop in other parts of Wrexham, and hinted that Wrexham Industrial Estate with its new link road might be next.
Premier Inn developers Marcus Worthington say construction work which began in December is progressing well.
Contract manager David Smart said: “The development is going ok, despite the wind and rain. We seem to get a lot in Wrexham!
“We’re carrying out groundworks at the moment and then the ground floor slabs can go in before the timber frame.”
Brynyffynnon councillor Phil Wynn is delighted by the progress.
He said: “I’m really pleased things are moving forward. I’m excited about the future.”
Plans for the former Esso garage now being considered by Wrexham Council.