A flurry of leisure attractions have rejuvenated markets in the South West, with agents reporting an influx of London-centred businesses, exclusive retailers and a doubling in commercial rents.
Babington House in Frome, Somerset, the country cousin to London’s Soho House, and the opening of international art dealer Hauser & Wirth at Durslade Farm, Bruton, Somerset, have contributed to a resurgence of the local retail and leisure scenes.
Bruton shares the Hauser & Wirth name with New York and Zurich. And Mike McElhinney, Bath-based partner at Carter Jonas, says values have risen appreciably.
“Babington House has had a huge impact on Frome,” he says. “We’ve seen a number of London-centric businesses open up in the town, very exclusive retailers coming in at a price point we’ve never seen before.”
McElhinney says the 30,000 sq ft of retail space at Catherine’s Hill has been the main beneficiary. Rents have risen from £10 per sq ft to the £20s, while freehold sales – followed by refurbishments – are now legion.
Others hope for a similar sprinkling of celebrity dust. Banksy’s “bemusement park” Dismaland and the latest Shaun the Sheep attraction are just some of the new leisure attractions luring radical-chic crowds of tourists to the South West, making the commercial property market a major beneficiary.
Weston-Super-Mare’s Tropicana Lido, new home to Banksy’s temporary art exhibition, had been a seafront albatross for North Somerset council since it closed 15 years ago. With plans by Henry Boot for 90,000 sq ft of shops and an eight-screen cinema with car parking quashed by the credit crunch and procurement rules in 2009 and further interested parties pulling out, Banksy’s radical art installation may attract future art-house prices for the site, if and when North Somerset council sells.
Meanwhile, West Country cultural phenomenon Shaun the Sheep’s 70-strong giant sculptures went on show this summer in London and Bristol, helping to pull in visitors and increase dwell times at Cribbs Causeway’s The Mall. “During last year’s Shaun event, we saw July and August sales 3% like for like, the best for many years,” says Jon Edwards, CBRE’s centre director at The Mall.
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