THE retail park on Birmingham Road in Bromsgrove town centre could be set to receive around £4 million of investment, if a new planning application is successful.

IM Properties has submitted an application to Bromsgrove District Council, with detailed plans for how it intends to significantly enhance the current scheme at the park, which has had an uncertain future for a number of years, and create a new high quality shopping destination.

Until recently the retail park was home to the popular What! store and a branch of the YMCA charity shop, which had three paid employees and around 10 volunteers. Previously it had housed a furniture showroom, and a DIY store. Sainsbury’s had received planning permission for a 45,000 square foot store in 2010 but the plans came to nothing.

Now IM Properties has plans to redevelop the existing 30,000 square feet of retail space, to create a number of smaller, more flexible units on the site, which will be designed to attract well-known, quality retailers to the town centre.

Richard Sykes, planning and development manager at IM Properties, said: “The Birmingham Road site is in an excellent location and with the significant enhancements and investment we are proposing to make to the overall retail environment we believe we can create a retail landmark that the town currently lacks.

“We feel the size of the units that we are proposing, which incorporate mezzanine floorspace and landscaping of the surrounding area, would attract the right mix and quality of tenants providing a significantly improved retail offering and a real economic boost to Bromsgrove.”

The company is one of the UK’s largest privately owned property firms, and is based in Coleshill, with a significant proportion of its £900 million portfolio invested in the Midlands region.

It already owns Mell Square in Solihull town centre, Blythe Valley Business Park at junction four of the M42, and 55 Colmore Row in central Birmingham.