An empty town centre building will receive a £560,000 makeover ahead of a mystery tenant moving in.
Ipswich’s executive councillors agreed yesterday evening to allocate the money to repurpose an empty building in the town centre.
They did not specify the exact building or its location.
Ipswich Borough Council agreed to invest £560,000 to bring an empty building back into use. Picture: IBC
The investment is part of an agreement with a mystery tenant who will then bring the building back into use.
Cllr Neil MacDonald, Ipswich’s leader, ruled out another café after the meeting, but any details around the building and the nature of the project it would be home to have been kept confidential.
However he said he was confident the new project would make a difference in the town centre.
Cllr Neil Macdonald, Ipswich Borough Council Leader. Picture: Joao Santos
Cllr MacDonald added: “I think the use that is coming will be welcomed by people in the town.”
The investment is part of the council’s drive to not only bring more people to Ipswich but also increase the amount of time they spend in the town.
The money will come from the Government’s £25 million Towns Fund allocation, awarded to Ipswich in 2021, to boost economic productivity and support growth.
The council put around £10 million of the fund aside to spend on empty buildings where applicants have come forward with projects.
The council previously carried out work to renovate the former Grimwades Building in Ipswich. Picture: IBC
One such project was the extensive refurbishment, with restoration work at the former Grimwades building, on the Cornhill, which sat empty for more than a decade before the council bought it early last year.
In July, it reopened as Jamaica Blue café in the heart of the town centre, with Lovisa, a jewellery and accessories retailer, also set to move in at some point early this year.
After yesterday’s investment, the council still has just over £3 million left over to allocate to other projects, some of which are set to be assessed early this year.