After a long delay, the demolition of parts of the city centre has commenced in preparation for the £450m City Centre South development.
It is the biggest redevelopment project in the city centre since it was rebuilt after being devastated during World War Two.
Demolition work has started at the site of City Arcade on Queen Victoria Road.
The full project will cover an area the size of nine football pitches, around a quarter of the entire city centre and is expected to deliver around 1,300 homes, hotels, restaurants and shops.
It has been funded by Coventry City Council, supported with more than £100m from the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for regeneration on the Labour-run authority, said it would be the largest project to be delivered since the city centre was rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s. He said he was “very confident” it would be delivered fully after previous schemes failed to get off the ground over the past two decades.
He said: “Coventry is a big city, it’s the 11th or 12th biggest city in the country, we’re a growing population, we need places for people to live.
“But it needs to be vibrant as well. We want shops, we want cinemas, we want places for people to visit. That’s what Coventry will deliver, and City Centre South will deliver.”
Around 200 retail units were taken over by the council using compulsory purchase powers to prepare for demolition work.
