Fun and games: Landsec to lift leisure at Square Mile shopping centre

Landsec’s plans to convert more of its retail and office block at One New Change, EC4, into leisure space have been given the go ahead by the City of London Corporation. By the end of this month the lower ground floor of the building will be largely vacant, after the REIT struggled to secure tenants for retail space following the departure of existing occupiers. Landsec wants to convert around 21,888 sq ft across seven units on the ground and lower ground floors into a “competitive socialising” offering combining food and games such as golf or bowling. It will be close to to the recently opened F1 Arcade racing simulator. In documents submitted to the City of London, the leasing agents for the building, Bruce Gillingham Pollard and CBRE, said there had been “limited interest over the past three years in vacant retail units” at the site, excluding the F1 Arcade. This has resulted in only two retail lettings at One New Change in the last 24 months, to cafe Urban Greens and manicure bar chain Townhouse Nails. The agencies added: “At the lower ground floor level, retail shopper footfall has never been successful, even post the installation of a staircase linking ground and lower ground floors,” which has made the lower ground floor a historically “difficult trading environment for traditional Class E retail”. In supporting documents, Landsec said: “While brands such as Zara have opened at One New Change in recent years [2021], the supply of retail units within One New Change is now emphatically outstripping occupier demand.” Landsec said of three remaining occupiers of 12 units on the lower ground floor, one left on 8 January 2024 and another is set to leave on 24 March. “Only one retailer will remain post March 2024 and they have indicated they wish to relocate to the unit on ground floor,” the REIT said. The new plans for the site have been met with optimism from the local authority. Approving the project, a City Corporation officer said: “The applicant has received eight competitive socialising offers, which has stemmed from the success of the amalgamation of the F1 Arcade unit, which demonstrates the site can provide large retail units with floor to ceiling heights which are appropriate for the operational and occupation requirements of competitive socialising operators.” The change was also granted approval for its contribution to the City of London’s Destination City plan. The officer added: “The competitive socialising offering would provide a seven-day offering and alternative setting which would help diversify the City to attract new visitors from further afield to this area.” Work on the scheme is expected to cost up to £2m, starting this year and taking up to two years to complete. When the 220,000 sq ft of retail space at the wider 560,000 sq ft mixed-use development opened in 2010, the site was the first major shopping centre in the City of London for 130 years. Photo from Landsec