Built by Hammerson in 1968, Victoria Plaza is a three-level open-air scheme with a multi-storey car park and an office block above. After several false starts and several changes of ownership, Delamere Estates and the Lattice Group pension scheme have firm plans for its rejuvenation and work begins on-site this month.

"The centre's been through four or five owners in four or five years," says Delamere's MD Bill Harkness, who is an unashamed refurb specialist. "It's got to be pretty bad for me to even look at it," he says, only half joking.

Even though it occupies a dominant position at the top of Southend High Street and has direct access to Southend Victoria station, Victoria Plaza has an unloved air about it. Rents are only about £45 zone A, as against £130 outside in the High Street.

Harkness inherited a proposal by Catalyst to develop an Asda superstore on a bridge over the adjoining ring road and to put a roof over the existing centre. After reviewing the economics he abandoned the Asda proposal, and decided to fully enclose the centre, at a cost of £21.5m.

One of the existing anchors, Wilkinsons, has agreed to extend from 26,000 to 40,000 sq ft by taking the whole of the centre's lower ground level and the refurbishment works will focus on creating a series of large units on the upper levels. The most prominent will be a 20,000 sq ft two-level store at the High Street entrance - built out into Victoria Circus to create a visual 'end stop' to the High Street.

Delamere is also spending £1m on upgrading the link to Southend Victoria station and the council's new bus station. A 15,000 sq ft unit with a frontage to the link is already under offer, and four smaller units are also available in this section of the centre.

One of the most significant changes will be extending the car park's lift shafts. At the moment the lifts only serve the centre's top level. This is fine for attracting shoppers up to that level, but it's not good for the disabled or for parents with buggies. All the centre's escalators will also be renewed.

Harkness' strategy is now to get on with the refurbishment before leasing the rest of the scheme. Completion is expected in late summer 2007. And he believes the refurbishment could trigger a wider renaissance for Southend. "There's no reason it can't do for Southend what Churchill Square did for Brighton," he says.

"There's plenty of money in the catchment but at the moment it's all going to Lakeside or Bluewater."

As a sign of the potential upside he points out that both Next and New Look are currently trading from units of about 2,000 sq ft. "They just can't carry the range," he says.

So as Victoria Plaza approaches its 40th birthday it's undergoing some radical surgery, but it could give the centre another 40 years of life.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend