A £60m plan for Gloucester and 500 new jobs
DEVELOPERS behind a £60million transformation of Gloucester today outline their bold vision for the city – pledging to create 500 new jobs.
Stanhope PLC, the firm behind the revamp of King's Square, is planning a massive overhaul of the site to turn it into a thriving shopping, restaurant and cinema complex fir fit for the 21st Century.
Martyn Chase, from Stanhope, has revealed how:
Gloucester is punching "well below its weight" as a retail destination
The company was attracted to the city due to its history and sheer potential
The city effectively "shuts down" past 5.30pm because the night-time economy is not good enough, but this will change all that
Quality restaurants, both for families and at the high end of the market, is a key theme for the project
He hopes 40 retailers will become part of the new, modern King's Quarter once it opens in 2015
The scheme, which was first revealed by The Citizen in June last year, has been described as "the single biggest key in transforming" the city.
Mr Chase, a director at Stanhope, which has already completed £10billion of regeneration projects across the UK, said: "We were sold on the potential of Gloucester, that's why we are ploughing ahead with this.
"At the moment, Gloucester is a fine, historic city which is just not getting its fair share of retail trade, for many reasons.
"We see the potential for it, we really do, over the years it has lost trade to competing shopping centres and this will change that.
"In reality, the city is punching well below its weight at the moment."
He also told The Citizen how the huge scheme has the potential to create up to 500 jobs.
Bosses are in talks with a number of potential anchors.
The new King's Quarter will have 40 shops, based around one big-name anchor store of 50,000 sq ft.
It will also have two public squares to relax in, a range of restaurants, and a cinema.
There will also be a new bus station thrown into the deal, as well as internal improvements to Bruton Way multi storey car park.
Mr Chase said: "In total we're looking at 200,000 sq ft of retail and a range of restaurants.
"Now, Gloucester doesn't do much trade after 5.30pm, and good quality restaurants will be the key to changing that.
"The current King's Square has had its day.
"We envisage the investment of £60 million will create 400-500 jobs."
He also said the key was ensuring the end development was of the right quality.
"A fantastic, good quality design to all this is vital - the two public realm squares will be of a good size, one outside the existing Post Office and the second one by the bus station.
"Then, the restaurants need to be quality, and the rest of the scheme will follow - the council is very committed to making this happen."
RETAIL DETAIL:
RETAILERS are scrambling to be a part of Gloucester’s King’s Quarter – with retail chiefs insisting they will have no problems filling the units.
DTZ, a global property and retail advisor, which employs over 10,000 people in 43 countries, has been tasked with talking to shops about opening up new stores in the development.
And despite the economic downturn, the company said the scheme is proving very popular.
John Percy, from DTZ, said: “If every single name we have identified became part of King’s Quarter, it would be at over-capacity.
“In fact, we’ve got a list of missing retailers in Gloucester and there are more on the list than actually we have room for, that alone means the potential is enormous.”
Although the firm is tight-lipped about what shops it is talking to while negotiations continue, it says the main focus will be on retailers not already in the city.
John Lewis, House of Fraser, Next, Primark, TK Maxx, Topshop and River Island are on the draft list revealed last summer.
And when it comes to restaurants, the focus will be on family-friendly places and classy establishments.
Martyn Chase, from Stanhope, said: “We don’t want pubs, what we want is a mix of family places and high end restaurants.
“The likes of Jamie’s Italian, Carluccio’s, Nando’s are what we are looking at.”
Shoppers in Gloucester said they were looking forward to its fruition.
Simon Collins, 35, of Barnwood, said: “I come into Gloucester but lots of people I know travel over to Cheltenham all the time because of the perception it is better over there - this will make things very different.”
Andrew Clayton, 60, a postman, said: “It’s about time this happened - the last time Gloucester had much investment in the city was the 1970s.”
The two squares to compliment the retail will be 1,000 sq metres and 1,500 sq metres in size respectively.
Roger Wilson, a director at international architects Chapman Taylor, said: “This is all about knitting together part of the city which has been eroded by 1960s style development.”
TIME LINE:
2010, talks launched between Gloucester City Council and Stanhope over revamping King’s Square
June 2011, council chiefs reveal they are on the verge of taking Stanhope into an exclusive negotiation process after being impressed by its proposals
January 2012, Gloucester City Council formally backs the scheme and agrees the Heads of Terms – a financial deal spelling out the funding package and leasing of the land
June 2012, a legal contract between all parties is expected to be signed, known as a development agreement
Throughout the remainder of the year extensive public consultation will take place to gauge public opinion, as well as negotiations over buying bits of land on the site owned by third parties
October 2012, a planning application is expected to be submitted by Stanhope
April 2012, around this time it is expected to be discussed by Gloucester City Council’s planning committee
Early 2014, work is expected to start on the scheme
December 2015, the new-look King’s Quarter will be open for business
43 Comments
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by Gloslady1950
Tuesday, February 14 2012, 2:46PM
“Sorry I did not notice that the link did not copy. It should be
http://tinyurl.com/7tx4686].pdf”
by Rob_quedgeley
Tuesday, February 14 2012, 12:39PM
“Wow... that's alot of typos.
Sorry about that.”
by Rob_quedgeley
Tuesday, February 14 2012, 12:39PM
“That's a long list of things that could have been done in Kings Square but none of them have happened.
Kings Sqaure as it is a compelte waste of city centre space and if the proposed Stanhope redevelopment happens it will be for the benefit of the whole city.
They are pretty hamstrung by the new cinema at the Quays though.
A rethink may be in order if and when the Quays gets approved.”
by Gloslady1950
Tuesday, February 14 2012, 12:00PM
“Have a look for yourself at what is proposed for Kings Square at the website
http://tinyurl.com/7tx4686].pdf (you can copy and paste this link)
And look at the AERIAL views and not the pretty architects' drawings and all those sketches and photos of other towns and cities.”
by Gloslady1950
Tuesday, February 14 2012, 11:56AM
“Has anybody really LOOKED at the plans for Kings Square. It is going to be BUILT ON. The 'artist's impressions' of the results gives a false picture. The developer promises two squares. One of these will be the small area outside the post office which is currently a taxi rank! The other will be the small area outside the Chambers. By my reckoning twelve mature trees will also have to be sacrificed in Kings Square.
By all means develop the area round by the bus station which looks a sensible proposition but please leave Kings Square alone.
At a time when empty shops are being reported in town centres all over the country, and when we too have empty shops in the centre of Gloucester as well as all those new empty shops down at The Quays, it seems to be complete madness to build more.
What Gloucester should be doing is building on our HISTORY to bring tourists in. Tourists bring money with them and our empty shops would soon be filled.
Kings Square should be kept as a plain paved open space with trees on all sides because:-
• All UPMARKET towns and cities have green open squares and tree lined roads
• It can be used as an area for parades to start and finish, thereby providing an essential link between the Quays with the City Centre
• It can be used for tourist attracting functions e.g.
o Open air carol concert
o Art event with pictures for sale and artists offering caricatures plus promotion of the art gallery in the City Museum
o Roman event with tours of Gloucester roman history and displays by the Ermine Street Guard
o Mediaeval event with tours of Gloucester and displays by the Medieval Free Company
o Civil War event with tours of Gloucester and displays by the Sealed Knot
o Victorian Christmas with skating rink, hot chestnuts and vendors in Victorian Costume. Re-enactment of Queen Victoria and entourage
o Edwardian Day with croquet, bowling hoops and other historic games on offer with stalls selling old fashioned wooden toys etc.
o Beatrix Potter event with costumed performers and tours of Gloucester.
o World War 2 event with displays by WW2 re-enactors and tours ending at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum
o Morris Dancing
o Filmed in Gloucester event – costumed parade and tour of Harry Potter, Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic and The Onedin Line – all of which were filmed in Gloucester.
Of course bringing in the tourists would be helped by a mainline station at the railway triangle.”
by Alchemies
Monday, January 23 2012, 7:45PM
“What happened in the 1970s has no bearing; people, and I mean *all* people, would appreciate more choice and social betterment. What you like has nothing to do with what you can afford and people on limited incomes are not by default unlettered proles incapable of appreciating life's niceties.
This is a rare opportunity for the good and I for one am all for it.”
by hardrock34
Monday, January 23 2012, 7:33PM
“2017 was the completion date in the article the other week..they must have put a woman in charge of developments now then to get it done by 2015 lol
If its completed by 2015 and not partially constructed, its what Gloucester needs..Ive lived here all my life and the town centre is grotty....I blame the planners in the 70s that had all that surplus concrete and knocked down all the old historic buildings etc...the docks would be excellant for evening entertainment - pubs, wine bars, bistros etc - somewhere to go on a summers evening..Im watching with interest..hopefully Gloucester will be brought in to the 21st century before I retire (2035)”
by gizza_bonus
Monday, January 23 2012, 4:19PM
“High end restaurants and shops in Gloucester City Centre - hasn't it all been tried before in the 70s? We can still see the remnants of it with the derelict Golden Egg building. Market forces would seem to indicate that Gloucester shoppers want Pound Shops and Charity shops, as they are the ones that seem to be thriving.”
by Alchemies
Monday, January 23 2012, 4:18PM
“'There is already ample space for all the names on DTZ's secret list in Gloucester in currently empty retail units'
I can't see companies like Waitrose taking up space in what exists; the idea is to upscale in order to attract business at their level. That is not a bad thing. The existing empty units have a very different potential, with the right rents and incentives in place.”
by notpickles
Monday, January 23 2012, 4:10PM
“While it will be fantastic to have the bus station redeveloped the thought of losing a lot of free space to empty shopping units doesn't really seem that exciting. There is already ample space for all the names on DTZ's secret list in Gloucester in currently empty retail units. The reason they're not here is because they're all down the road in Cheltenham already.
If the bus station was redeveloped then Kings Square could be developed into a beautiful green park space which cafes and restaurants would queue up to locate around.
I would point to Stanhope's development in Bath as an example of how worst to use a space. The whole development is of inappropriate scale with unimaginitive architecture and completely de-humanising. Last time I was there they had added a carpet of astro turf to try to humanise one of their piazzas - it didn't really work.
This isn't news, the information here has been available for months.”