The council last year acquired the former Savoy Hotel and Queens Market buildings and is now working with Ion Developments on plans to transform the site into a mix of shops, market stalls, offices and housing, while improving accessibility from the waterfront and promenade into the town centre.
Work is now progressing on the initial designs and costings for the 97,000 sq ft site and a planning application is expected to be submitted later this year.
Denbighshire County Council director for the economy and public realm Graham Boase said: “We see the Queen’s Buildings as key in the regeneration of Rhyl. This site will be pivotal in linking the regeneration on the waterfront to the town centre and providing a fantastic offer in its own right. This project can transform the town centre.
“After 12 months of working with businesses, residents and visitors to Rhyl the feedback was that the town centre needed a vibrant market space to draw people into the town centre and increase footfall. This will help support and grow businesses and our vision sees local, independent traders as central to this, creating jobs and opportunities locally.
“Parts of the buildings are in very poor condition and whilst we will try and retain as much of the original architecture as possible, there will inevitably be areas that will need to be demolished.”
The project is being funded by Denbighshire County Council, the Welsh government and the European Regional Development Fund.
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