Historic Tooting building to be constructed into a Lidl as well as hotel and housing

A new Tooting supermarket will be built on what the council calls 'one of Tooting's most prominent and historic landmark buildings'.

The now-vacant RACS building, Upper Tooting Road, was approved to be developed into new shops, restaurants and a 96 bedroom hotel back in 2018.

The development is also planned to provide 41 residential units including affordable homes for local people on lower incomes.

It has now been confirmed to residents that a larger Lidl supermarket will be opened within the development to replace the existing store on the same road.

The new store will have a larger sales area of 869m2 offering an even bigger range of Lidl's produce.

It will also feature new facilities such as a customer car park with 29 parking spaces, including 6 Electric Vehicle Charging (EVC) bays to provide additional access to the store.

Lidl is working with construction firm Princebuild to build the store which will retain the existing employees from the Upper Tooting Road store and create up to 4 new jobs when opened. The build is expected to take four months, with a view to opening the store in Spring 2021.

Lidl has told Nub News that the plan for the old site remains undecided.

Chief Press Officer for Wandsworth Council, Charlie Masson Smith, told Nub News:

"You will see the preservation of this important local building in a prominent town-centre location - and its switch from being a vacant, rundown, and partly derelict building to being brought back into everyday public use delivers much more than just a supermarket."

Lidl GB's Regional Head of Property, Henry Neel, commented: "We are extremely grateful for all the support that we have received so far, and we would like to thank all of the local residents for their patience and understanding as we enter this next phase of development.

"It is great for us to be able to invest in Tooting and redevelop a key site whilst delivering an even greater range and an enhanced customer experience to even more of the local community that meets all their needs."

The RACS building was originally constructed in the 1920s as a three-storey department store.

The planning application was delayed for some time because the owner was required to go to court to evict some occupants who did not have the owner's consent to occupy that space and nor did they have planning permission to operate their business there.

Planning chairman Cllr Will Sweet previously said: "The redevelopment of this key town centre site is very welcome indeed. It will bring a vacant high street building back into use and provide jobs and homes for local people, including those on lower incomes.

"The provision of a town centre hotel will also have a beneficial knock-on effect for other businesses in the area, while the developer will also be required to pay one million pounds towards neighbourhood infrastructure improvements in this part of Tooting and other good local causes.

"And I'm delighted that the decision we reached last night has ensured the protection and retention of the building's attractive and historic façade that is such a prominent Tooting landmark."

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