The huge new attraction, due to open in 2022, will be based on a similar concept in Italy
Plans for a new £250m 'Future Park' to be built in Yorkshire with restaurants, outlets and an 'agri farm' have been unveiled at MIPIM - the annual global property convention in Cannes.
Located next to the A1, close to Harrogate and within the Leeds City Region, the futuristic looking park (see above) will span 188 hectares of land and incorporate 160,000 square metres of commercial, leisure and retail land, creating up to 1000 new jobs.
An estimated 3.5m visitors are expected to visit the attraction each year
Fallons, the landlord and developer behind the new visitor attraction, are planning to begin construction works in eighteen months time and open for business in 2022.
The scheme, which is being described as ‘a food agri park’, is based on a similar development - Fico Eataly World - already operating in Bologna through food hall company Eataly.
Eataly began in November 2002, when owner Oscar Farinetti drew out a simple sketch showing a multifunctional unit dedicated to celebrating Italian biodiversity in an informal, natural, and simple place to eat, shop, and learn.
He opened the first Eataly in 2007, in a converted vermouth factory in Turin. Since then, Eataly has expanded with more than 35 locations throughout Italy and the rest of the world.
Fallons, who specialise in major infrastructure projects such as motorways and energy projects, own the proposed site and will carry out the construction work, but Eataly will take over the day-to-day running of the food agri park once work has been completed.
British food and produce will be at the heart of the retail park, which will aim to be the most sustainable venue of its size in the country.
The project is being supported by the North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership. A planning application is expected to be submitted in June.
