After three years of neglect, the Bargate Shopping Centre is about to be brought back to life, and its regeneration could also save another of Southampton’s pieces of real estate – a section of the historical city walls, hidden behind the centre for 30 years. Elaine Cavanagh reports
A £100m plan to breathe new life into the derelict Bargate Shopping Centre in Southampton could be just two months away from lift-off if a council planning meeting in November approves the scheme.
Built in the late 1980s, the covered mall closed its doors for the last time in June 2013, after receivers for then-owners Parkridge failed to find a buyer. Now, however, new owner Bargate Property is preparing to re-energise the lifeless southern end of Above Bar Street. Its proposals for the 150,000 sq ft Bargate Quarter comprise a mix of retail and leisure units, with residential space and student accommodation above, and substantial public realm – constituting around one-third of the scheme and including terraced gardens for cafe seating.
The plans, which would involve demolition of much of what currently stands on the site, represent a dramatic U-turn for the retail centre, which, as one local agent put it, was “fatally flawed” from the start, with its lack of traditional ground-floor prime space and no anchor to draw in shoppers. Adding to its woes were the UK recession soon after it opened, the arrival of the Marlands Shopping Centre, which pulled pedestrian flow away from the Bargate area and, in the biggest whammy of all, the 800,000 sq ft WestQuay Shopping Centre opening up on its doorstep in 2000.
James Burchell, partner with Tellon Capital – asset and development managers for the scheme – says this is an opportunity to revive an area of Southampton in desperate need of regeneration.
He stresses: “It’s not just about a shopping centre – it’s a project that’s also going to bring back to life the city’s historic walls.”
The walls, which delineate the northern edges of the old town, have remained hidden from view behind the existing Bargate Shopping Centre for some 30 years. Now there are plans for a wide pedestrian avenue that will snake its way along the southern side of the newly exposed walls and link the area with nearby parts of the city centre.
As this is such a high-profile location, it plays a vital role in enhancing the reputation of the city as a whole. It is critical that this project is brought forward
Robin Shepherd, partner in the Southampton office of planning consultancy Barton Willmore, sees this feature as key to making the new scheme fit into the wider landscape.
“The challenge is how this and other schemes can work together rather than as aggregated pieces, and here the town walls could act as a natural chain to link it through into other developments.”
Tellon’s Burchell confirms the scheme will aim to fit in with and be respectful of the city’s wider offer, while creating its own “dynamic location”.
Aspirational, boutique retailers will be a target for the developers, while Southampton’s student population and the continuing strength of its residential market also made those uses natural additions to the mix, Burchell explains. The city has been particularly focused on housing a student population of around 41,000 in purpose-built accommodation, rather than private housing.
Nick Grout, associate director in the development team at Savills, confirms an explosion of student accommodation in recent years and says there is still a lot of investment going into such development.
Meanwhile, in the residential market, Southampton’s masterplan is targeting a further 5,000 homes by 2026. And apartments have sold consistently well says Grout, also fuelling a considerable appetite from the investment market. He says Bargate’s mix and balance of elements is “the right cautious approach for that location”. Southampton City Council’s planning committee is due to make a decision on the proposed scheme at its November meeting and, if approved, Burchell says the plan is to be on site by summer 2017, with an opening scheduled for 2019.
If the Bargate Quarter gets the go-ahead, it will form part of the Heart of the City initiative – as one of the council’s seven “Very Important Projects” that are mapped out in the city centre masterplan and are due to bring in £3bn of investment by 2030.
Another Heart of the City project already on site is Hammerson’s £85m WestQuay Watermark leisure scheme.
The council’s economic development manager, Jeff Walters, explains why Bargate now needs to follow on: “As this is such a high-profile location, it plays a vital role in enhancing the reputation of the city centre and the city as a whole,” he says. “The Bargate and Bargate Centre form the hub from which routes radiate out to the other VIP projects. It is therefore critical that this project is brought forward.”
Walters admits the presence of a vacant shopping centre in the area has detracted from the city’s image for several years, so a new scheme would deliver a “welcome improvement”.
The council envisages the potential for Bargate to have wider benefits, too. For example, it sees it giving further momentum to the redevelopment of what it describes as tired commercial and residential stock in nearby Queensway, East Street and Hanover Buildings.
It’s not alone in anticipating such a multiplier effect. Martin Hastelow, head of Savills’ commercial agency in Southampton, believes it could have the ability to improve Southampton’s city centre office market, which has lost occupiers to out-of-town locations partly because of limited amenities.
Hampshire Chamber of Commerce says it too hopes the new scheme could spur on such development.
Mark Miller, chairman of its planning and transport committee, says: “We are actually quite blessed at the moment because we have a lot of development – hotel schemes, retail, leisure, student accommodation – and a good proportion to come. The missing piece, however, is high-spec office accommodation. Will a new Bargate scheme encourage this to come through? We sincerely hope so.”
Bargate Quarter in numbers
- Total size of scheme: 150,480 sq ft
- Retail and leisure space: 68,650 sq ft
- Residential apartments: 152
- Student accommodation: 451 bedrooms in 185 units
- Public realm: 55,970 sq ft
What the Southampton market says about the Bargate plans
Jeremy Braybrooke, Osmond Brookes
“It will be a completely new vista. It’s also an opportunity to create a quality shopping environment and the new owners have grabbed that opportunity.”
Mark Miller, chairman, planning & transport committee, Hampshire Chamber of Commerce
“We will be very pleased to see retail development in that area as it’s the heart of the city – and we will be particularly pleased to see more independents.”
Councillor Simon Letts, leader, Southampton City Council
“It’ll be tremendous to see the landscape in this part of the city start to transform.”
Kevin Marsh, head of licensed leisure, Savills Southampton
“The redevelopment of a prime but redundant site in the very centre of the city is to be welcomed and it is an opportunity to bring a new vibrancy to the area. The challenge will be to deliver a leisure offer that is complementary to what exists already, rather than adding more of the same.”
Robin Shepherd, partner, Barton Willmore
“The city walls are one of Southampton’s jewels and we think it’s great that the developers have seen the opportunity to open up that feature, create a new street and expose those walls.”
