Hull City Council will consider developing a ‘box park’ site on what is currently waste land, with the aim of attracting visitors to the city centre and creating opportunities for start-up businesses.
The development could house art and craft studios, boutique retailers and food and drink vendors, and create up to 30 new jobs, a council report said.
Box park venues, which are constructed from recycled and repurposed shipping containers and designed for year-round use, have been developed in Newcastle, Manchester and London.
According to Hull’s council report, they are ‘ideal solutions to occupy unused plots of land’.
The report said: ‘Aside from enriching and diversifying the city’s leisure and culture offer, box parks can also provide a social mission and the intention for one on this site is to help provide people in Hull with another pathway for entrepreneurship, within the context of a supportive business community.’
The local authority said the proposed development carried a risk of displacing businesses from the nearby Trinity Market and Fruit Market.
To mitigate this, it said it would use ‘strong engagement’ and a market capacity analysis before choosing new leases for the box park venue.
The report said the council should invest an initial £250,000 with the intention of regaining the money from rental income and potential future profit shares.
The council’s cabinet will consider the proposal on 24 July. It would consider alternative ‘meanwhile use’ developments for the site if the box park plan were unsuccessful.
