AFTER 15 years of negotiations, acquisitions and scepticism – from shoppers doubting it would ever happen – groundwork on the £120 million John Lewis development is now under way.
The sprawling 550-space Bond Street car park in Chelmsford is blocked off with hoarding at precisely midnight on Saturday.
The next time shoppers will be able to stroll into the wide expanse is in Autumn 2016, where they'll find the three-storey department store, about 20 other shops, five restaurants and a Cineworld.
Developers at Aquila, who have been planning the project since the company's inception in 2000, are celebrating a watershed moment.
"It's been such a hard effort to get to where we are," said Aquila property consultant Neil Ridley.
"It's a mixture of emotions, but largely excitement and exultation."
On the east side, shoppers can still access the back of Debenhams opposite Tesco and access Loch Fyne and Prezzo restaurants from either Waterloo Lane or walking from Riverside Ice & Leisure.
Contractor Bowmer & Kirkland, which will have about 100 workers on site daily, is scheduled to start digging up 55,000 cubic metres of soil, from Friday, January 30.
The development's south building is due to be fully erected by January 2016 and developers hope to let the brands move in by June that year.
Monsoon and Hugo Boss clothing stores, L'Occitane fragances, burger joint Bill's, Latino restaurant Las Iguanas, Ask Italian, burger chain Byron, American bar Coast to Coast, Goldsmiths jewellers, Joules clothing and Fat Face are among the names already confirmed.
It will include a 275-space underground car park.
"All these shops want to be near John Lewis, that's their goal, so it will be an exciting line-up," said Mr Ridley.
"It's hugely positive and a huge endorsement of the city. There's actually more brands who want to be in the scheme than there is space to accommodate them.
"It's a quality area of retail that Chelmsford has not had a lot of.
"I wouldn't compare it to Lakeside and Bluewater, they are regional shopping centres, whereas Chelmsford appreciates that it's a live-in city centre rather than a single-place mall, which I think is a more interesting proposition for shoppers."
Aquila founder Tony Chambers initially planned for a residential-focused development after the firm bought Aquila House in Waterloo Lane in 2000, the first of its 27 purchases around Bond Street.
Mr Chambers said: "But come 2008 when the financial crisis happened that scheme was just not viable, then John Lewis came along and said they want to join with a two-storey 'at home' store, and then they changed their minds for a three-storey department store."
The scheme, otherwise known as Phase Two – following on from Phase One centred around Prezzo and Loch Fyne – was given permission by councillors in 2012.
Contractors have since visited the site to demolish the old Natwest building and the back of Barclays, and move underground sewerage and cables.
The scheme is the biggest financially in Aquila's history.
"There isn't anything we've done that will have such a significant effect on the city centre," said Mr Chambers.
"It's difficult to stay excited for 15 years, but obviously it's good news."
Market statisticians CACI estimate the scheme is worth £67 million a year to Chelmsford, will boost its trade by 20 per cent and will take it up the UK shopping destination rankings from 57th to 50th.
But the construction, funded by US-based Pramerica Real Estate Investors, will take out one of the city's biggest car parks for 20 months.
The city council has no contingency plan but insists there is capacity elsewhere.
"We can't build this while there are people on the site," said Mr Ridley, who believes the multi-storey behind Iceland in Springfield Road is under-utilised.
"We will do it as quick as we can for the simple fact that time is money.
"Everybody wants to be open for Christmas and for retailers that is the huge thing, so we want it open in September 2016. I fully expect we will have fully built the scheme by then."
