Standing in the centre of Manchester’s Exchange Square on a cold, crisp morning, the welcome sunlight bounces off the huge plate glass fronts of shiny, new shops facing the landscaped open space.
With the Triangle retail scheme on one side and Selfridges, Next and The Printworks on the other, it is hard to imagine the destruction that the IRA bomb caused 10 years ago this June.
On 15 June 1996, this spot was plunged into chaos, filled with rubble, broken glass and plumes of smoke. Some 1m sq ft of shopping space was wiped out when the 3,300lb bomb exploded. The device injured more than 200 people and caused an estimated £700m of damage.
The city centre has since been rebuilt, and is looking forward to the long-awaited completion of the revamped Arndale Centre.
Glass and steel entrance
The centre took a direct hit as the truck containing the bomb was parked directly outside on Cross Street. Joint owners, Prudential Property Investment Managers and Capital Shopping Centres, have spent £150m remodelling the northern section of the landmark centre. A £10m refurbishment of the southern section has already been completed.
The bus station and market areas have been redeveloped to make way for 75 shops, adding an extra 300,000 sq ft to the scheme, which will total 1.4m sq ft when it is completed.
The Arndale’s trademark yellow tiles have been replaced by a glass and steel entrance from Exchange Square. This will eventually lead into a mixed-use glass-covered mall, known as New Cannon Street, to be anchored by a 45,000 sq ft Top Shop – its largest UK store outside of London.
This first phase, which opened last October, houses a 150,000 sq ft, four-storey Next – the largest ever built – as well as River Island, Nike, Starbucks and Eat. It has taken seven years to design, over two years to build, and the market loves it.
Mike Ingall, chief executive of Allied London, which is developing the 4.5m sq ft Spinningfields mixed-use scheme in the city centre, says: “The Arndale Centre is absolutely key to the city keeping its position in the regional hierarchy. PruPIM and CSC have created a fantastic offer. Next taking over 100,000 sq ft is absolutely phenomenal.”
Warwick Smither, partner and head of in-town retail at Cheetham & Mortimer, agrees: “It’s a complete removal in style from the old Arndale Centre. It looks great,” he says.
While the tenant line-up is unsurprisingly homogenous, the centre has netted a host of recruits attracted by the large floorplates on offer. Phase two, due to open in April, is the largest phase, and contains the majority of the fashion retailers – Top Shop, Monsoon, Bershka, Jane Norman and Oasis. Meanwhile, phase three, scheduled for a September opening, is anchored by New Look, Sports World and Virgin.
Stephen Tregenza, consultant at Tushingham Moore, which is joint letting agent for the scheme with Lunson Mitchenall and CB Richard Ellis, says: “The second and third phases will introduce a number of newfashion retailers to the centre.”
But will the existing parts of the Arndale centre be blighted by voids created by retailers relocating to the extension?
Tregenza dismisses the concern. “The existing River Island store will soon be occupied by Republic, and we are close to agreeing terms with a well-known high street name on the majority of space vacated by Next. We’re also in detailed discussions with two high-street retailers for the Top Shop space,” he says.
Quoting rents within the prime areas of the extension are around £240 per sq ft zone A, while a mix of flexible, 10- and 15-year leases have been agreed.
The rejuvenated Arndale Centre is bound to have an impact on the traditional prime retail pitch of Market Street. Prime zone A rents on Market Street have been hovering around £300 per sq ft for the past two years.
Richard Lucas, partner at GVA Grimley, believes Market Street rents could have gone up more, but the Arndale has soaked up a lot of demand. However, he does not believe this is detrimental to the street’s overall performance. “The Arndale hasn’t taken the edge off of Market Street. It’s enhanced Exchange Square as a prime retail area,” he says.
So despite the destruction ten years ago, Manchester’s retail scene appears to be stronger than ever.
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Allied London’s 4.5m sq ft Spinningfields regeneration project, which has created a buzz in Manchester’s office market, is now poised to do the same for retail. Despite retail sales faltering nationally, Allied remains undeterred from proceeding with plans to create a designer retail pitch in the city. The ambitious proposals, revealed in EG earlier this month, include creating a haute couture retail quarter modelled on London’s upmarket Sloane Street district. The developer is in talks with a number of high-end fashion and homeware retailers for the 350,000 sq ft retail and leisure element of its scheme. Armani is said to be close to consolidating its Collezioni and Emporio units on King Street to anchor the retail element at the front of Spinningfields, on Deansgate. A market insider confirms: “Armani is in serious talks to take a big gateway unit on Deansgate. The Collezioni element is driving it.” Allied chief executive Mike Ingall confirms the developer is talking to Armani as part of an exercise to establish Spinningfields as an upmarket retail destination. He also reveals that discussions are taking place with other Italian fashion retailers for space at the scheme. “We want to create a retail destination with a circular pedestrian flow, linking the high-end fashion areas of the city, from Bridge Street to Kendalls, King Street, John Dalton Street and Spinningfields. We want to put a Brompton Cross, Brompton Road and Sloane Street-type pitch into Manchester,” he says. Sam’s surprise Meanwhile, things are moving on with the leisure element of the scheme, which will comprise between 15 to 20 restaurants and cafés. A surprise signing is Sam’s, of Sam’s Chop House fame, the city’s most popular hostelry among agents, which is to open a 6,000 sq ft Chop House within Spinningfields. After netting Wagamama last year, Allied is also close to securing Carluccio’s, and has units under offer to Strada, Shimla Pinks, Bar Ha Ha and Café Rouge. Discussions are also ongoing with four other restaurant operators. Quoting rents are £30 per sq ft. Each of Spinningfields’ 12 buildings will have retail and leisure uses on the ground floor in a bid to make the scheme truly mixed use. The development will be phased with some fashion and leisure ready for trading by 2008. The whole development’s completion is scheduled for spring/summer 2009. To the west of the site will be bars, restaurants and convenience shopping. Core retail and department stores will form the centre, and fashion will dominate the east side of the site leading on to Deansgate. “To attract haute couture brands that wouldn’t usually come to Manchester, we need to create specific areas for these operators to thrive in,” says Ingall. Allied has also looked to Birmingham’s upmarket Mailbox for inspiration, and wants to attract Mailbox retail occupiers on turnover rents. CB Richard Ellis is researching the market. Nigel Gillingham, director of Markham Vaughan Gillingham, letting agent on the Mailbox and joint letting agent on the retail element at Spinningfields with GVA Grimley, says quoting rents will be £50 per sq ft, based on a gross internal rather than zone A rate, while typical store sizes will range from 2,500 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft. Allied London is also in dialogue with a number of hotel operators. Ingall says: “We’re hoping we might have one five-star boutique hotel of between 50 to 100 beds as well as a 220-bed, four-star corporate hotel.” |
