CALA Homes (Thames) Ltd has announced its involvement in the promotion of the 12.8-acre Alton brewery site following an exchange of agreement with the Molson Coors Brewing Company UK Limited.

The developer’s involvement in this project will see the regeneration of the former Manor Park brewery on Lower Turk Street, principally “residential-led” but, it has been confirmed, with provision on site for a new community centre and business premises.

Molson Coors has worked closely with East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) to agree a development brief for the regeneration of the site and agreed to sell the site to CALA, through its adviser Vail Williams LLP, earlier this year.

A spokesman for Molson Coors said: “Following the initial announcement of the closure and sale of our former Alton brewery site, we have been working closely with both EHDC and the local community to understand how the site can best be used in future. We are pleased to announce that, after close collaboration with community stakeholders, we agreed the terms of the sale with CALA homes to provide a mixed-use scheme.”

Built in 1963 to make Harp Lager, the brewery site was bought by Bass in 1979 and the brewing division of Bass was acquired by Coors in 2002, prior to the merger in 2005 with Molson, when the company name became Molson Coors.

In recent years, Molson Coors’ Alton brewery had been reliant on brewing Heineken, which made up around 75 per cent of the total town brewery production. In 2014, Heineken announced that it would not be renewing the contract and, as a result, Molson Coors embarked on a review of its UK brewery network. That resulted in the brewery’s closure in May 2015 to end 52 years of brewing on the Manor Park site, and the loss of 108 jobs.

With the next chapter of its history now in the planning stage, according to CALA Homes it will be working closely with Molson Coors and East Hampshire District Council “to deliver a sustainable, residentially-led, mixed-use scheme that will provide much-needed housing in the area”.

As well as the provision of private and affordable homes on site, the development will seek to create more than 200 jobs through its business uses.

The design of the proposed development “will reflect the rich history of the brewery site and take note of the architectural style of the surrounding buildings and the nearby High Street”.

And it will “promote access and permeability” by linking the development into the High Street, neighbouring Kings Pond and the train station, via upgraded pedestrian footpaths.

In a statement, CALA Homes flagged up its “strong track record of delivering high-quality developments across the South East, placing a particular emphasis on exceptional design and creating special environments for people to live in.”

Furthermore, CALA claims that its “high quality, design-led masterplan seeks to reinforce the historical context of Alton while securing its future as a desirable place to live and work.”

Nick Twine, managing director of CALA Homes (Thames) Ltd, said: “This is a project we are delighted to be involved with and demonstrates a continued investment by CALA Homes into high-quality locations across the south of England. We look forward to working closely with Molson Coors and East Hampshire District Council to deliver this important project.”

CALA Homes is currently working on a planning application, which it hopes to submit to EHDC later this year.