Regeneration bosses are bidding for Government cash to help transform the derelict Vaux site into a multimillion-pound development.
The bleak-looking Sunderland city centre site, pictured, is still owned by Tesco, but negotiations are continuing to get the land in public ownership.
This would allow Sunderland City Council, Sunderland arc and other partners to create a multimi
llion- pound mixed-use development creating 3,000 jobs.
Hotels, civic buildings, city centre office space, leisure facilities, retail units and homes are all earmarked for the development – which could be linked to Stadium Village via a new pedestrian bridge over the Wear.
A funding package has already been agreed which will allow them to buy the site, if and when the long-running dispute ends in a successful outcome for the arc.
The agency is busy choosing a developer to work on the site and has now applied for cash from a new Government loan scheme to help fund the development.
Under the scheme, Vaux would be designated an Accelerated Development Zone (ADZ) and could potentially win tens of millions in funding which would be paid back through increased business rates.
There have been dozens of bids for the ADZ scheme from around the country, and it is not clear how many will be approved – or how much cash the scheme would get. Newcastle hopes to raise £50million from the scheme.
City leaders say they are close to reaching a deal with Tesco on the Vaux site.
It is hoped the firm will release Vaux if it gets planning permission to build on the run-down Sunderland Retail Park in Roker instead.
But the council and the arc have taken flak from critics, in particular Sunderland Conservatives, who say the process is taking too long at a time when the city is in desperate need of jobs and investment.
