Regeneration company Hull Forward has announced the new wholesale fruit and vegetable market for Hull at Priory Park could be open for business as soon as next year.
Traders at the market sold their out-dated Humber Street site which is being redeveloped as part of an ambitious regeneration project in order to move to purpose-built facilities out of the centre.
“In simple terms this means we buy the Fruit Market traders’ existing premises so they can use the sale proceeds to help fund their relocation,’ said Hull Forward ceo John Holmes. “We have then leased back the same properties to the traders so they can remain in occupation until their new premises are ready.”
Phil Hough, md of Associated Growers, one of the firms that will be making the move to the new site, said the traders are now looking at applying for a change to the original planning consent. “There will be some excess warehouse space at the new site so we are re-applying for a change on the planning permission so we can have all the traders at one end of the new site and warehousing for rental at the other,” said Hough. “It should just be a case of rubber-stamping the change, as actually this is probably better for residents near the site than the original plan.”
Once the reapplication is granted, tenders will be sought before a builder is selected and work begins, possibly by the end of the year.
