Crompton Place shopping centre was built in 1971 and was bought by Bolton Council for £14.8m in 2018.
Councillor Akhtar Zaman, deputy leader of Bolton Council, said the redevelopment of the ara will be the authority’s “flagship regeneration project” – but councillors don’t want to “demolish the shopping centre bit by bit”.
Zaman said: “We do not want to create a big hole in Bolton town centre which then becomes a blight for the area.
“Our ambition is that, by the time we demolish Crompton Place, something will be in place”.
