The John Lewis Partnership will be able to turn almost half of its landmark Oxford Street store into office space, after getting the nod from Westminster City Council’s planning sub-committee.
The council has granted conditional permission for the plans following a unanimous vote.
Under the proposals for the 678,700 sq ft store, at 278-306 Oxford Street, W1, up to around 302,800 sq ft across eight levels could convert to dual use as flexible retail or offices. This equals about 45% of the building’s total floorspace.
In the event that all of its third to eighth floors are converted to offices, a minimum 376,000 sq ft would be retained as total retail space. This would result in a circa 40% (134,200 sq ft) reduction in tradable floorspace, to 205,600 sq ft.
The retail offer would remain on the whole of the basement level, the majority of the ground floor (excluding a 5,800 sq ft office entrance), and almost all of the first and second levels.
External alterations are also proposed to create a new office entrance on the corner of Holles Street and Cavendish Square.
David Wood, who works in asset optimisation at JLP, said in a statement to the committee that the proposals would provide it with “more flexibility to respond to current and future market trends”, while customers could “enjoy a more efficient shopping experience”.
Wood stated: “The existing building, our spiritual home, has evolved through piecemeal development over a number of years, [resulting in] a disjointed and inefficient layout. This makes it challenging for us to consistently respond to our customers’ needs.”
He pointed to a significant amount of under-utilised, back-of-house storage space that is no longer required since technology is now able to predict future sales more accurately.
Officers recommended approval saying that exceptional circumstances exist to justify the loss of retail floorspace in this instance, while the external alterations were acceptable in design terms.
CBRE, which is advising JLP on the application, previously stated that JLP has been considering its options for the future of the building “for some time in light of the well-known and reported issues surrounding high streets and retailing, but in particular Oxford Street”.
“The challenges confronting retailers are now more pronounced given the current Covid-19 situation, but it is important to stress that JLP are not leaving Oxford Street, and see the flexibility of a dual/alternative use as providing [it] with the opportunity to invest in the retail store for its long-term future,” it added at the time.
Department stores are increasingly turning to offices to fill surplus space. On Oxford Street, House of Fraser proposed a part-conversion to office space, while Fenwick on Bond Street has done the same. These have followed Debenhams, which last year turned parts of its West End store into space for its head office.
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