EXCITING £7m plans will be submitted this month for a residential and commercial development at the base of Chester’s 18th century lead shot tower.
The Grade II*-listed tower, next to the Shropshire Union canal, was built to supply musket shot for the British forces in the Napoleonic Wars.
Chester & District Housing Trust and Liverpool-based Neptune Developments are partners in a project to bring 53 one, two and three bedroom apartments available in a 50/50 split for affordable rent and market sale.
The ground floor will feature a commercial element which could include bars, cafes and restaurants. There would also be a small visitor centre to interpret the heritage of the site which is the last remaining historic shot tower in the UK.
The scheme would fit in with plans for an adjacent £1bn business quarter employing 2,500-5,000 people in offices on land currently owned by Lloyds Banking Group.
And the proposed Waitrose supermarket and hotel on the opposite side of the canal would feature a new footbridge linking into the residential scheme.
Cheshire West and Chester Council has committed a £225,000 grant towards the mixed use project which has been designed with guidance from English Heritage to produce a modern industrial building to complement the tower and features glazed walkways.
Dave Soothill, assistant director of asset management and development at CDHT, hopes work could start on the scheme this summer and be completed in the summer of 2013.
The site is also of local importance as at 51.2 metres (168ft) it is currently the highest structure in Chester, being slightly taller than the town hall tower, which stands at 160ft tall.
