JD Wetherspoon is to invest £2.5m in the former Bairds department store site at Regent Shopping Centre in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, to create a huge pub.
South Lanarkshire Council approved the sale in February last year, and Wetherspoons has now completed the deal with commercial property agent, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).
Wetherspoon has also acquired planning permission and licensing for the site but still needs to receive a building warrant before work can take place.
The 23,000 sq ft unit has remained empty since closing in 2014, and will reopen as a pub-restaurant later this year. The pub will have capacity for almost 900 people and feature terraces on the ground and first floors.
The Regent centre, which was built in the 1970s, is home to tenants including Marks & Spencer, Wilko, Boots, Costa, New Look and WH Smith.
Ryan Kee, director of retail agency at LSH, said, “This will be very welcome news for Hamilton town and Regent Shopping Centre. Wetherspoon will be investing significantly to redevelop the former Bairds unit, an important and prominent building in the town centre, and with the creation of 90 jobs this will have a major positive impact on the local economy.”
