Before the announcement of the 2017 City of Culture was made, Hull was a city largely overlooked by the development community. At best, it simply didn’t feature on its radar. At worst, it was disregarded for offering little more than fish, floods and economic fragility.
Meanwhile, Hull has been busy forging its own future. The city’s geographic isolation has given its residents an understated determination and both public and private sector parties have created what is becoming an ever more appealing investment proposition.
Since learning it was to take on the cultural crown back in 2013, Hull City Council reports a £1.5bn investment bounty. Its most high-profile successes include the opening of Siemens’ £310m offshore wind manufacturing plant at Alexandra Dock and Spencer Group’s commitment to build a £200m waste-to-energy plant. Meanwhile, major employer RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) has chosen Hull as the location for a £105m R&D Centre for Scientific Excellence.
Now that Hull has the chance to woo a global audience, the city is determined to encourage more investors to follow suit and make it their home.
“We’ll never have a better opportunity to market the city”, says Mark Jones, head of regeneration at the council. “We’re absolutely committed to extracting every ounce of value we can from City of Culture. For too long the city has been denied the opportunity to define its own destiny in the face of cod wars, recession or flooding. We’ve now got the chance to make a step change.”
In doing that the council has put its money where its mouth is and over the past 18 months has spent £106m of tax payers’ money on capital projects, focused on the city centre. That’s a bold move for any city, but is particularly brave in the midst of austerity cuts. Yet Jones says that the investment, which includes a £26m upgrade of the public realm, was critical in kick-starting regeneration and giving the private sector confidence to come and invest.
New venue
Around £36m of that money has gone towards delivering the new 3,500-seat music and events complex Hull Venue. Due to open in early 2018, the venue will provide the city with a much-needed event space to pull in more tourists and corporate visitors and help transform a neglected city centre site just behind Princes Quay shopping centre.
The council has also helped fund work at the Fruit Market. Branded the city’s new digital and creative quarter, the Fruit Market is intended to provide Hull with a lasting legacy of digital, creative and artistic occupiers on the city’s marina. The quarter is designed to extend the visitor journey into the Old Town and breathe new life into its waterfront.
The project has also attracted funding from the Coastal Communities Fund and the HCA. It is being delivered through a regeneration partnership between the council and local developer Wykeland and Beal Homes.
Ripening fruit
The Fruit Market is already home to the successful tech hub, the Centre for Digital Innovation. The development partnership is now looking to deliver independent retail and leisure, together with 109 homes.
Wykeland owns 1.1 million sq ft of space in Hull and the boost in profile being enjoyed by the city in 2017 is giving the developer confidence to acquire more buildings and land.
“We have invested very heavily in the city’s physical regeneration”, says Wykeland managing director Dominic Gibbons. “When the City of Culture announcement was made, people’s aspirations were raised and perceptions from those outside are changing radically. It created a perfect storm in combination with investment from manufacturers and the football club reaching the Premier League. It has speeded up our ideas and plans for investment in the city.”
Increased confidence in the city’s credentials is not only influencing the decisions of local developers but is also helping to attract those from further afield.
With the boost in tourist numbers on the back of Hull’s City of Culture tenure and plans for a new £50m cruise terminal, the city is turning the heads of a number of leisure operators.
In the city centre, hotel group Hilton is building a £25m DoubleTree. The 165-bed hotel on Ferensway is due to open in November and is being delivered for Brayford Hotels by Manorcrest Construction.
Manorcrest and Brayford director Leigh Hall says: “I never would have thought Hull would be a city we’d invest in and the development would probably never have happened without City of Culture. The status offers real opportunity for change and Hull is committed to ensuring there is a legacy to keep attracting visitors.”
He adds: “There are plenty of opportunities for other developers and investors to enter the city. It is less competitive than the likes of Leeds and Manchester and you can buy decent property at reasonable prices.”
Those developers who had already committed to Hull will enjoy a significant boost from the cultural celebrations.
Outlet operator Realm is working with fund manager Seven Dials on a £20m remodelling of the city’s Princes Quay shopping centre, incorporating 50,000 sq ft of discount outlet units.
Realm chief executive Colin Brooks says: “Most of that new public realm work is right outside our front door. We’re surrounded by investment projects and thanks to improved connectivity, now find ourselves right in the heart of the city core. We relaunch early July and the timing couldn’t have been better in terms of the number of people attracted to the city and the PR we can tie into.”
Seven Dials director Mikola Wilson says: “There’s real value to be had in Yorkshire & Humber and a number of investors are starting to take a look.”
Local agents
That increased appetite for commercial opportunities is providing a welcomed fillip to local agents.
David Garness, managing director of local agent Garness Jones, says his firm has disposed of around 50 acres of land at sites around Hull over the past 12 months, compared with an average of around 10 acres in previous years.
He says: “You can’t tangibly link commercial property transactions to City of Culture status, but the feel of the area has been markedly different since they announced it.”
Garness and the council now hope that momentum can be maintained. Alongside the development of manufacturing and renewables, the city centre’s property markets are also attracting more occupier interest.
Hull’s retail scene is developing, with recent lettings at both Princes Quay and St Stephen’s shopping centres, and the council is confident that developers such as Beal Homes will help hit its target of accommodating 2,200 more city centre residents. It is hoped that developers will convert old office stock to residential units and that once headline office rents, which are now at £17.50 per sq ft, surpass £20 per sq ft there may be more interest in delivering new space.
David Hooper, external affairs manager at Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, says: “People in the city have a far more positive outlook and are talking seriously about what legacy City of Culture can leave behind.”
Success at St Stephen’s
British Land has secured 31,500 sq ft of leisure lettings over the past 12 months at its St Stephen’s shopping centre in Hull.
In a move to attract more leisure and entertainment occupiers to the 550,000 sq ft scheme, British Land reconfigured the former Gala Bingo unit on the top floor.
The move has attracted new tenants to the scheme, including indoor climbing adventure centre Rock Up, which has taken 6,500 sq ft, together with family entertainment centre Fun Station which has agreed a 10,000 sq ft letting. Other recent deals include a 3,500 sq ft letting to Zizzi and a deal with trampoline operator Gravity to open a 15,000 sq ft outlet.
Ben Grose, British Land’s head of retail assets Scotland and north says: “The council’s investment in the city’s public realm and cultural heritage will have a lasting impact. We’re very pleased with the level of interest we’ve been receiving from leisure operators and Hull’s City of Culture status has definitely helped. St Stephens is a very successful asset and we’ll continue to invest in it.”
