Council boss Arooj Shah said it was an “exciting milestone” for the town and said she aimed to create a town centre that is “fit for the future”.
The five locations identified by Muse for redevelopment are a “civic and residential Quarter” around the town hall, a “retail core” around Spindles, the “creative quarter” near the Coliseum, Mumps and the town’s western edge.
Documents published by Muse show the area around the Civic Centre becoming 600 new homes in a series of C-shaped residential blocks.
The Queen Elizabeth Hall would need to be bulldozed, but the “landmark” Civic Centre tower would remain, and might be repurposed as a hotel.
Further into town, another new neighbourhood with 225 homes will take the place of the demolished Magistrates Court, and 250 new homes are due to be added on what was once the site of Oldham’s leisure centre, demolished in 2016.
