OLDHAM Council and commercial property company Langtree have signed up Costa Coffee to the £35 million Hollinwood Junction regeneration project.

The national coffee chain will bring forward a drive-through store off Albert Street which sits to the north of the 30-acre strategic regeneration site.

This comes after the demolition of the old gasholder, which is now complete and alongside the appointment of I&H Brown Limited as contractors to deliver the infrastructure works for this and the next phases of the development.

Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding said: “We are delighted to have secured Costa to Hollinwood Junction – boosting the local economy and creating new jobs.

“Costa is the latest big name to be attracted to the site thanks to its excellent location and good connectivity to the road, motorway and tram network.

“The past few months have been really difficult for all of us, but this new Costa shows that major brands are still looking to invest in the borough and that Oldham is open for business.”

Oldham Council and their strategic partners Langtree have entered into a development agreement to regenerate the brownfield site which sits just off junction 22 of the M60.

The Hollinwood Junction project will create 760 jobs and incorporate retail, leisure, employment and up to 150 family homes.

Langtree chief executive John Downes said: “Tenants of Costa Coffee’s quality signal our ambitions for the wider occupier mix at Hollinwood. Just as importantly, they drive large amounts of footfall to the site, from which everyone benefits. We’re pleased that they could see the scheme’s strengths and we look forward to other similar announcements.”

Works are due to begin on site in January and will provide access to the derelict site which was previously occupied by a large redundant National Grid gasholder. Construction of the new Costa drive-thru will start in Spring 2021 with the store expected to open in Autumn.