Forget Costa...rival coffee chain Starbucks is set to revive a seafront unit which has sat empty for over a decade.

Costa was due to take over the circular Pier Hill shop, in Western Esplande, Southend, before pulling out at the last minute after negotiations fell down.

The Echo can now reveal fellow High Street favourite Starbucks will take over the prominent unit, which has remained vacant since it was built in 2004 as part of the £6million Pier Hill redevelopment, funded by the European Union.

Gerard Biagioni, from Dedman Gray, who marketed the building, next to the Pier Hill lifts, said: “It’s almost like a marriage. You’ve got to get the right tenant in who is going to be in it for the long haul.

“I’m sure we could have let it out beforehand to a company that might have left after a year and it meant it would have been empty again.

“This means that a household name is coming to the seafront and adds to the regeneration of the area. If you look at the seafront from Nirvana to Western Esplanade, there are loads of regeneration projects going on down the whole parade.”

The nearby Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant is being completely regenerated, while planning permission has been granted for the Esplanade Pub to be demolished to make way for a block of luxury apartments.

Toulouse restaurant also wants to expand.

Dedman Gray expects the Starbucks deal to go through within four weeks.

The estate agent said it sent the initial lease to all 16 companies interested in taking over the unit to avoid a repeat of what happened with Costa.

Talks collapsed because Costa wanted to make adjustments to the lease, which Southend Council refused to accept.

Leader Ron Woodley, who previously told how the council was forced to spend thousands of pounds repairing the unit in 2008 due to it flooding during downpours, is confident the Starbucks deal will go through.

The Independent councillor said: “I’ve agreed the contract to agree the income for the council, but I’m not sure the operator has signed the final contract.

“They want to move very, very quickly to be open for the summer season.

“This is another example of Southend being open for business.”

Starbucks already has a shop in Southend High Street, close to the Victoria shopping centre.