It could attract Elton John, Robbie Williams or even Tom Jones. The people of Bristol have waited nearly 30 years for an arena and although it could be another three or four years until international arena operator SMG gets to put on its now famous [??] opening night celebrations, the whole project has moved a step closer to becoming a reality.
The South West Regional Development Agency has chosen its preferred partner to build and run the 10,000-seat arena and the 1m sq ft of mixed-use development in which it will form a part. The winning consortium, Bristol Waterfront Arena (see box), now has a six months fine tune the development agreement and plans.
“The next stage is the financial deal and we want to get that side of things put to bed by the autumn,” says Ian Thompson, SWRDA head of operations. He adds that the aim is then to get a planning application in by Christmas this year.
BWA has nine acres to play with, a principal site next to Temple Meads station and a number of smaller sites that have been added into the equation to help make the scheme more attractive to developers. The arena will form the centre piece of a mixed-use scheme that will include retail, further leisure, residential and offices (see box).
Richard Olsen, chairman, Orion Land & Leisure, one of the companies in the consortium, says: “We believe arenas are the catalyst in leisure and mixed-use development and they shouldn’t stand on their own.”
Plans for the remaining leisure elements include a casino.
Thompson says: “A casino is an option and we are aware of the latest development in the legislation and the chances are that one of the super casinos wouldn’t be in Bristol. But we could have one of the medium size ones.”
Olsen agrees and says BWA is hoping to put in a large casino and is in discussions with Stanley Leisure about operating it but again this is “subject to legislation”.
Keen to finally see some development on the site, many in the market have inevitably scrutinised the proposals. Car parking has always been a thorny issue with many believing the provision of 750-1,000 spaces is still not enough and that the public transport links are inadequate.
“People make a lot about Temple Meads but my feeling is that it is OK if you live in Bath or Weston Super Mare [??]. It’s not like Reading,” says David Skinner, managing director of CBRE’s Bristol office.
There is also concern about the timing of the office element. Skinner points out that there is around 1.5m sq ft of office space in the pipeline at schemes such as Harbourside, the brewery site, St Mary Le Port and Broadmead to name just a few. “It is a big order for offices and these [the arena site offices] have got to come along [queue up?] behind it,” he says.
In response to the criticisms Thompson says that because the arena site is next to the station it negates the need to provide a lot of parking. “The arena relies on existing city- centre parking, park and ride and public transport,” he says.
As for the office development, he points out that the key elements will be getting the infrastructure in place and making sure the arena is built. “It depends on the market and how it responds at the time as to what elements get built first,” he says.
Tina Taylor of Savills, advising Bristol city council and SWRDA, emphasises that BWA was chosen on the basis of a concept masterplan. “The size of the office accommodation may vary depending on what is considered appropriate. It’s not a big commercial office development it’s a mixed-use scheme with lots of different elements. All of those things are market driven too.”
As for the residential element, many are looking to Barratt’s apartment development at Temple Quay 2 to set the benchmark.
Edward Heard, partner, Knight Frank explains: “It [Bristol arena site] has got everything going for it but it is an untested location. There are a number of schemes planned in that area and the first one will be Barratt, which has launched a scheme at Temple Quay. The market will be more established in 2008.” [edit ok?]
Heard’s colleague, Nick Reed says the first phase of Barratt’s development, which is a mixture of one- and two-bedroom apartments seems to be going well with 16 out of the 24 units already reserved before the completion of date of next month.
“It isn’t a true city-centre location but it will benefit in years to come. Barratt has done well as it is an untested location and there is no reason why a similar development wouldn’t work at Bristol Arena,” he says.
So it seems to be a cautious thumbs up to BWA’s initial plans at least. There is a lot that can happen in the property market during the next three and a half years and how the scheme evolves will be a testament to the skills of the consortium.
Olsen admits that an opening night for the arena at the end of 2008 might be a little bit optimistic but nonetheless, BWA is going to try its hardest to ensure Bristonians get an extra special Christmas party.
Box: Bristol Arena
What the plans currently include for the nine acres:
· 10,000-seat stadium
· 40,000-50,000 sq ft large casino
· Health & Fitness facility
· Hotel
· 40,000 sq ft of A3/retail
· 150,000 sq ft of offices
· Around 500 residential units
· 750-1,000 car parking spaces in a multi-storey car park
Box The consortium
Bristol Waterfront Arena includes among its four major companies:
Orion Land & Leisure – formed in 2001 by chairman Richard Olsen. Orion Land & Leisure has projects that, when completed, will have a development value of £2bn. These include a mixed-use scheme at Canada Water in London, Cardiff International Sports village and Watermark in Suffolk, which will be a mixed-use development around a 2,200m lake. As well as Bristol, arenas feature in the development plans at Cardiff and Suffolk. Olsen himself has been a property investor and developer since 1976 and says: “Bristol first came to our attention 10 or 12 years ago and we have been tracking it ever since.”
SMG Europe – the largest operator of sports and entertainment venues in the UK and Europe. Arenas in its portfolio include the 20,000-capacity Manchester Evening News Arena, the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle and the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Backed by US-based SMG, SMG Europe also operated the commonwealth stadium in Manchester for the commonwealth games.
Bellway – formed more than 50 years ago, Bellway had a turnover of £1,093m between 2003 and 2004, and is a self-claimed innovator in urban regeneration.
