This time next year the first classy Christmas lights will be adorning newly opened malls at Lexicon, Bracknell. It’s been a long wait. Plans to revamp Bracknell’s tired and unappealing town centre first surfaced in 2002. The 580,000 sq ft redevelopment by Legal & General Capital and Schroder UK Real Estate Fund is due for a September 2017 launch.
Ten months or so before the doors open and the scheme is already around 80% prelet. This includes 400,000 sq ft signed and sealed, another 41,500 sq ft in solicitors’ hands and 30,000 sq ft close to agreement. “If we’re not 90% prelet by the time we open then we’ve gone disastrously wrong somewhere,” says Richard Poyser, retail leasing manager at Legal & General.
The talk is upbeat, but revamping Bracknell is a gamble. Despite a wealthy catchment in the hinterland towns of Sunningdale and Ascot, Bracknell town itself is – to put it politely – closer to the UK average.
A growing local economy will deliver plenty of extra wealthy shoppers: Bracknell’s catchment is set to triple in size to 879,000 by 2017, and to 1m by 2024 according to research by FSP Retail. The new arrivals will be affluent: household income and expenditure in Bracknell exceeds the UK average by 28% and 21% respectively. This shows the potential is from population growth rather than taking customers from elsewhere, say the scheme’s cheerleaders.
The developers have some bold designs ready to help refresh a town in desperate need of rebranding.
An 80,000 sq ft Fenwick department store with a funky exterior is the ace in the pack. “It is our answer to Selfridges in Birmingham, with curious cladding which looks like holes have been punched in it, and it changes colour at night,” enthuses Poyser.
So why take on the mighty task of revamping the former new town’s 1960s town centre?
“The opportunity in Bracknell was staring us in the face,” says Poyser. “The town centre had failed, but it was surrounded by an enormously affluent catchment. The big disconnect between the two was the opportunity.”
And it’s not just a retail opportunity – there’s a big leisure play, too. Harry Pickering, investment manager at Schroder, explains: “Today about 4% of Bracknell’s town centre floorspace is leisure. But we know demand from operators is strong – we’ve three or four potential occupiers for each leisure unit – so we hope to push the proportion of leisure up to 8%.”
A 50,000 sq ft redevelopment of the existing (and soon to be former) Bentalls department store will provide yet more space by late 2018 or early 2019.
A seriously enthused local council, and the ease of decision-making conferred by owning 98% of the town centre, have made the monster Lexicon scheme easier to deliver than it might have been.
Top Lexicon rents of £150 zone A will set a new record for Bracknell, ahead of the previous peak of £130 zone A. “A very comfortable rent for Bracknell,” says Lunson Mitchenall director Peter Courtney. “Watch out for stores moving out to Lexicon from London.”
What nobody knows is how successful the rebranding will be. Can memories of old Bracknell be erased? Or is it at risk of the same fate as Basingstoke, a town surrounded by an affluent catchment, much of which still prefers to go elsewhere, despite a recent revamp?
John Percy, head of retail development at Cushman & Wakefield, says: “Perception is the big challenge. Getting this scheme going has taken a long time, and over those years perceptions of Bracknell have spiralled down. Branding is the number one thing to resolve at the Lexicon, but if they get the retail offer right, it should be a success.”
Jo Hewson, director at FSP, run the focus groups that refined the Lexicon and knows the perception problem is real. “We want to attract the Sunningdale and Ascot shoppers – and today they don’t think there is anything in Bracknell for them. But since Waitrose opened – it’s a beautiful store – it has shown them a glimmer of the future.”
Hewson adds: “We worked on Basingstoke too, and Bracknell is different. In Bracknell the anchor is Fenwick, in Basingstoke it was Debenhams. Lexicon is giving people what they want, and the scale of the scheme is important.”
The developers have also been noticing the 4x4s outside Waitrose. “Look at their car park,” says Poyser. “That car park gives us confidence – and it’s a good indicator of the catchment that will come to Bracknell if you give them what they want.”
Better late than never
The Lexicon will open on 7 September 2017 – six months later than planned thanks to changes to building specifications. The £240m scheme is being developed by the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, a 50:50 jv between Legal & General Capital and Schroder UK Real Estate Fund, working with Bracknell Forest Council.
Lexicon tenants include an 80,000 sq ft Fenwick, an 80,000 sq ft Marks & Spencer, 48,000 sq ft Primark and a 26,000 sq ft H&M.
Bracknell’s evening economy will be transformed with the opening of a 12-screen Cineworld and 10 casual dining restaurants, such as Wagamama, Carluccio’s, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Nando’s and Chimichanga.
Joint agents for the Lexicon are CBRE and Lunson Mitchenall.
