THE next stage of a major town centre regeneration scheme was launched yesterday as developers began advertising office space to potential tenants.

The Kimmerfields development is a £350m multi-staged project that will see thousands of square feet of office space built, along with some residential and commercial space, near Fleming Way.

Stage one of the project, a multi-storey car park and sheltered accommodation, was finished last year and the next phase will see the building of a large amount of office space.

Alongside the development, the bus station will be relocated to Fleming Way, which will become a bus-only road.

Muse is the developer behind the project and has been working with Swindon Council since 2008.

The financial crash slowed everything down but with the market for office space picking up, Muse believes this is the ideal time to offer the space.

Doug Finlay, development director of Muse, said: “We have completed the early stage of the development with the car park and the council are pushing forward with changing the buses.

“This has made it much more attractive to potential tenants.

“There is a very buoyant market at the moment so we feel this is a great time to begin the process.

“Swindon has a lot going for it with a very stable workforce and has been very successful with business growth.

“However, there has been very little grade A office space built and that is what we are doing here.

“We will be marketing to the South West and beyond.

“We are looking at either businesses in the town or further afield.”

Phase two of the development is only part of the overall office space which will be in excess of 600,000 sq ft when completed, along with 100,000 sq ft of leisure space and 430 residential properties.

At this stage it is not possible to say how many offices will be built as firms may design the layout as they see fit, which Muse says will be a big selling point.

Council leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) welcomed the progress and said the project was vital for bringing people back into the town centre.

He said: “I am delighted we have reached this stage as we have been working towards this for a number of years.

“The crash came at a very bad time for Swindon and set everything back but we are very committed to this project.

“I am told rents elsewhere in the country are high, making this an ideal time for us to go to market.

“We want the town centre to be somewhere people come to work, live and play and this will be key to that.”

The first stage of construction of stage two is not expected to begin until 2016.