Council backs Beatties compulsory purchase plan

Councillors have supported plans to use compulsory purchase powers to buy the "iconic" former Beatties building in Wolverhampton.

Once the "heart and soul of the city", the former department store in Victoria Street has been empty since 2019 after the collapse of House of Fraser and has since fallen into disrepair.

City of Wolverhampton Council's cabinet approved in principle to "last resort" compulsory purchase order plans to speed-up its redevelopment at a meeting on Wednesday.

"There is no regeneration of Wolverhampton without the regeneration of this building", councillor Chris Burden told a meeting.

In 2021, permission was granted for the redevelopment of parts of the former store and car park into more than 300 flats and 73,000 sq ft (6,782 sq m) of commercial floor space, but the local authority said its current owner Eden Beatties had failed to deliver the scheme and left the building to rot.

Burden said the "absolute and clear preference" was for the site to be redeveloped, adding it was an "iconic building" and the "heart and soul of the city".

"I want to assure residents, in no uncertain terms, that to this point, the extent of the powers of this council have been used at every single stage," he said.

He stressed that the council was as frustrated as the public over the state of the building and was using its compulsory purchase powers "at the earliest opportunity".

The regeneration of the building would provide "'vital new housing, commercial opportunities, the restoration of a heritage asset and act as a catalyst for regeneration in the area", as well as address long-standing issues such as anti-social behaviour, dilapidation and a blight on the surrounding area, he added.

The building was bought by Eden Property Group for about £6.15m in 2024. The owner Eden Beatties had stripped out the building and demolished some of its structures but had now left it in "poor condition."

The council had met with the owners of the former department store and "expressed in no uncertain terms that the current state of the building was totally unacceptable."

As a result, City of Wolverhampton Council said it was preparing to take legal action, with its vacant properties taskforce also taking steps after the building's owners ignored an enforcement notice to tidy the run-down site.

Council leader Stephen Simkins said: "We cannot afford to have buildings of such an iconic stature be derelict and closed for so many years. It's deeply frustrating for everybody.

"No-one wants to see that building run into the ground," he said, "but we have limited powers. People need to understand that if we had our wish, we would have done this some time back.

"But we have given opportunity to the owners, we have given opportunity to the developers and we have got to the stage now where we have no other option."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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