Irwin Mitchell advise on new lease to Aldi at New Bolton Woods in Bradford

Law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised CRUVL, the Canal Road Urban Village partnership, on the forward-funded sale and development of a new Aldi supermarket in its £250m urban village in Bolton Woods, between Bradford and Shipley.

The circa 13,500 sq ft store has been completed and handed over to the company for fit out and is expected to open its doors in spring. It will create 30 new jobs.

Aldi is the UK’s fastest growing discount supermarket chain, with more than 800 stores nationwide

The deal follows on from the development of the first unit on the retail scheme – a Costa Drive Through, which was practically completed in April 2019, with the reversion subsequently sold as an investment that same month.

New Bolton Woods is a development and regeneration project aimed to connect Bradford and Shipley along the Canal Road corridor, set up by Bradford Council and Urbo Regeneration to create a totally new neighbourhood.

The developer is also in talks aimed at developing a GPs’ surgery, health centre and pharmacy close to the store.

A second retail unit of 10,000 sq ft, next to the Aldi store, is now also being marketed and Canal Road Urban Village expects significant interest from other retailers.

The Irwin Mitchell team was led by Real Estate partner Kevin Fox, assisted by Mike Plews, Ben Couldrey and Emily Sinclair (Construction), Hayley Johnson (Banking) and Sarah Cardew (Tax).

Kevin Fox, Partner at Irwin Mitchell said, “We have advised CRUVL on New Bolton Woods since its inception and are delighted it has attracted a retailer of Aldi’s reputation and popularity. It will provide a great boost to the scheme.”

The law firm had previously advised on the first sales of the residential units to Skipton Properties Limited and more recently, 145 units as part of Phase 1B of the scheme, developed by Keepmoat Homes, as well as the sale of the Costa unit.