Lidl wants to construct 71 new homes and a 31,000 sq ft supermarket at the site of a former Mecca Bingo site in Greenwich, in its latest tactic to secure planning permission for a new site in London.
The supermarket, proposed to be located on the first and group floor of the building, would be one of the German retailers biggest in the UK, according to a brochure.
Lidl said it would build four storeys of apartments above the bumper grocery store. Currently the property is leased to Mecca Bingo and generates £160k per annum.
This is not the discounter’s first foray into the property market.
Back in 2016, Richmond council gave the greenlight for 3,000 homes and also a primary school which would be located above a Lidl.
Lidl’s push into residential property echoes that of bigger supermarkets such as Tesco who built hundreds of homes above its store in Woolwich and Sainsbury’s who has constructed 700 homes in Vauxhall.
Even hard-hit retailer John Lewis has been trying to edge its way into the market – pushing to build two towers in West Ealing and Bromley – however this has been met with pushback from local residents.
Plans are subject to approval of Royal Borough of Greenwich.