Regeneration hopes pinned on retail

  Hereford   Hereford’s cows were herded into the brand new cattle market and put under auction for the first time this summer. The old cattle market had been a feature of the city centre for 154 years, but as the pens were dismantled and the sawdust was swept away in June to make way for an £80m retail and leisure development, developer Stanhope must have been hoping it would soon be filled with herds of people. It has been a long road for Stanhope, which was selected as developer for the site around Edgar Street in March 2008. The scheme received outline planning permission three years later and since then there have been reports that it was quietly garnering off-market interest from a handful of potential investors including British Land, LaSalle Investment Management and Universities Superannuation Scheme. British Land is now believed to have stepped in, although Stanhope refuses to confirm this. Instead, it has busied itself by signing prelets for the 310,000 sq ft development, and has already secured a six-screen Odeon cinema, an 85,000 sq ft department store – thought to be Debenhams – and a 25,000 sq ft Waitrose. There is talk about a Marks & Spencer Home store. These are optimistic times for Hereford. Locals believe the development is the biggest the city has seen since the cathedral was built 900 years ago. There is hope that it will lure back the 18- to 35-year-olds, who typically look for jobs and opportunities elsewhere, and that Hereford will be transformed into a proper shopping locale with the homes required to sustain the youthful workers. Simon Horan, residential development director at Savills and a resident of Hereford, says: “We needed the retail. We needed the jobs. Hereford is not an industrial heartland, nor is it well-connected enough for distribution, so retail is where the jobs had to come from. And I think over the next 20 years it is going to make Hereford a real destination.” Alistair Shaw, Stanhope’s retail development director, is, unsurprisingly, equally bullish about the cattle market. Hereford, he says, has cathedral city charm, while the land has an uncomplicated ownership structure, making negotiations relatively painless. Although he will not comment on any specific names, Shaw says funding will be in place by the autumn, and work will begin on site before the end of the year. Sorting out access into the town will need to be a priority. The one-bridge town is at near-gridlock already. The solution will probably come in the shape of the long-mooted £80m River Wye bypass, funded by associated section 106 contributions from any new housing developments. As Andy Venables, a director at GVA, puts it: “You can get to Hereford on the train from Paddington, but it is very slow. And it is not well-connected to the motorway network, so you have to make a special effort to get there.”   Gloucester   Gloucester is significantly better situated than Hereford. The proximity of the city to junction 12 of the M5 places it on the artery between Bristol and Birmingham, which bypasses Hereford. Apart from the council’s “magnificent seven” city centre projects – urban regeneration company Gloucester Heritage’s seven strategic regeneration sites – there are developments on the roads leading into the city, which suggest that developers are buying into the council’s regeneration agenda. Knight Frank partner Russell Crofts suggests that St Modwen’s and Ashtenne’s 35-acre distribution site by Waterwells business park in the south of the city is one of only three in the South West capable of accommodating a large requirement for a big retailer. There are whispers that SuperGroup, Asda or Marks & Spencer might build a unit of around 700,000 sq ft. “The infrastructure is there, so we could deliver a site within 12 months,” says Crofts. But retailers have flooded into Bristol’s industrial market recently, so is there enough demand for Gloucester to benefit? “Not everyone wants to be in Bristol,” says Crofts. “Actually, the biggest thing is to be near a road network, and that really works for Gloucester.” To the west of the city, Delta Properties is looking for a supermarket to anchor its own 150,000 sq ft, retail-led Gloucester Gate development on Eastern Avenue, one mile outside the city centre. Grant Westall-Reece, director at Delta Properties, backs Gloucester city council’s belief that the town is set for big things in the coming years. It will, he believes, shed its image as poor relation to nearby Cheltenham and should quickly start attracting cash from nearby affluent towns such as Stroud and Cirencester. Others are less gung-ho. Stanhope’s Shaw makes the same case for Gloucester as he does for Hereford: it is a charming cathedral town with a need for modern retail units. But he is less enthused about the immediate prospect of getting Stanhope’s 250,000 sq ft King’s Quarter retail development off the ground. “It’s one of the magnificent seven, and a critical one because it is right in the centre of town,” he says. “We are very proud to be part of Gloucester’s regeneration and hope to play our part in bringing people into the town. But we feel that we need an upturn in the economy.” That upturn is coming, insists Julian Wain, Gloucester city council’s chief executive. He admits that there have been setbacks. The recession has dented ambitions, he says, and the scrapping of RDAs, which meant the demise of the South West Regional Development Agency, has made things more difficult. Blackfriars, the town’s proposed cultural quarter, is a particular headache. The council has bought the Fleece Hotel in the heart of Blackfriars from SWRDA, but admits that its redevelopment is some way off. Even so, says Wain, all of the key seven developments are still progressing, and an economic pickup is inevitable. In Gloucester Docks, insurance group Ecclesiastical, which had been in advanced talks with SWRDA to consolidate into a single 100,000 sq ft headquarters in Southgate Moorings, remains committed. “They will go on site by 2013,” says Wain. Linden Homes is about to submit a planning application for as many as 280 homes in the Greyfriars part of the city, he adds. And even the council’s approval of Stanhope as the development partner for the 250,000 sq ft King’s Quarter is being seen as good progress by the council, despite Shaw’s lukewarm welcome for the scheme. Shaw adds: “We are very early in the Gloucester development. We are just now agreeing a masterplan with the council. So it is too early to be talking about prelets. As for investment, the success of Hereford will be a major contributor to funding confidence.”   Long Marston   In Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, St Modwen has gone to a public consultation with its plans for 270 homes, which are supported by a joint venture with housebuilder Persimmon. Some 500 homes are planned in total. John Dodds, St Modwen’s Midlands regional director, says the involvement of the housebuilder as well as the outline planning consent for this 478-acre former MoD mixed-use site, sets the tone for a successful redevelopment. Plans for the first phase of the scheme also include the creation of around 3,000 sq ft of community space, an area equipped for play, retail facilities and 14 acres of public open space. The masterplan encompasses the creation of a leisure development, featuring 150 self-catering lodges, 150 holiday homes, an 80-pitch caravan park, an outdoor activity centre, football and cricket pitches and a rail-based heritage centre. The developer will push ahead with the residential project as soon as confirmation is received but, says Dodds: “Businesses in the area have the confidence to invest in their own business now that we have the outline consent.” Local motor parts firm Jet Total Vehicle Solutions’ occupancy of 300,000 sq ft of space on the business park is the best example of this. The firm has increased its space from 167,000 sq ft. “It shows they have confidence in the development,” says Dodds. Hereford pins its hopes on an £80m retail development on the site of the old cattle market to rejuvenate the town, while Gloucester schemes aim to woo affluent shoppers and capitalise on its superior transport links. Mark Lewis reports   Longbridge   It will not be long before students at the new Bourneville college begin to see the rest of the Longbridge development in south Birmingham take shape. The college, which will be ready to take students next month, is part of the £1bn, 15-year plan to redevelop the site of the former MG Rover car factory. The next phase of the St Modwen development is a £70m retail-led scheme, which will create the centre of the town. St Modwen will develop an 85,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s store, a car park and a 2-acre urban park. The second and third phases are set to include a hotel, 40 flats and 80,000 sq ft of shops and restaurants. St Modwen’s John Dodds promises the shops will be open by the middle of 2013, with building work due to start before the end of the year.