Regeneration at the crossroads
Published: 07 February, 2009
The property slump is threatening the viability of retail-led regeneration schemes across the country. Graham Parker looks at the new challenge to urban renewal
Over the past decade planners and social policy makers have looked to retail-led development to drive the regeneration and renewal of the fabric of town centres across the UK. Property developers and retailers were seen as having the deep pockets that would fund a wide range of facilities – from social housing to new civic, leisure and sporting facilities – that would transform the physical, economic and social landscape of urban Britain.
Now that has all changed. More and more schemes are being put on ice, or even cancelled. Among the highest-profile casualties are ING Real Estate’s £460m Northgate development in Chester and Multi Development’s Summer Row scheme in Wolverhampton, both of which have been put on hold.
Each of the schemes that are delayed or cancelled would have delivered real benefits to communities that will now be deferred or denied. And even schemes that are going ahead, like Shearer Properties and Standard Life’s £130m Parkway development in Newbury, have had to go through the unedifying process of ‘value engineering’ before the developers could commit to a start on site. That means stripping out costs which, inevitably, reduces the wider regeneration benefit of a scheme.
So what is the country missing out on? New research conducted by DTZ on behalf of the BCSC and Business in the Community catalogues the public benefits delivered by retail-led projects. These include economic factors such as job creation and opportunity, and quality of life factors such as improved public space, new housing, increased civic pride and community cohesion.
Bill Boler, director of investment and physical regeneration at Business in the Community says: “In this increasingly tough economic climate, ensuring that investment benefits the communities and people that need it most is more important than ever. Retail-led regeneration can reconnect communities to economic opportunity, leveraging direct employment, local business support and additional investment.”
One scheme which is going ahead is Multi Development and Aviva’s SouthGate mixed-use development in Bath. It is the largest mixed-use development in the centre of Bath and is being built as part of the wider regeneration of the city.
Chapman Taylor’s masterplan for the £360m scheme comprises 376,000 sq ft of retail, including a new 125,000-sq ft Debenhams store, 37,650 sq ft of leisure, 25,850 sq ft of restaurants, 93 flats (of which 23 will be affordable), 860 parking spaces and a new transport interchange.
Even though the 12.5-acre site lies within the Bath Conservation area and part of a World Heritage Site, it was previously occupied by underused industrial buildings, the 1960s SouthGate Centre, an office building, a car park and a bus station.
The design of the new scheme complements Bath’s Georgian heritage with retail and leisure at lower levels and residential on the upper levels. The new transport interchange will deliver visitors to the heart of the scheme, providing a natural route through the site and into the city centre.
SouthGate is being constructed in three stages, beginning with the retail units along SouthGate and the transport interchange, to be completed in Autumn 2009. Phases II and III, which will include the Debenhams department store, along with the remaining new shops, restaurants and cafes, and two level basement car park, as well as upgrading Bath Spa railway station, will be complete in 2010.
