Plans for a mixed-use development surrounding the planned 17,000 capacity arena in Cardiff have been lodged as part of a huge regeneration project in the city.
Robertson Property and Cardiff Council have lodged a hybrid planning application for part of the 33-acre Atlantic Wharf, Butetown Masterplan area, including new homes, offices and retail space.
The application is for outline planning permission for a broader regeneration that will include up to 890 homes, a 1,090-bed hotel, some 200,000 sq ft of office space and 175,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space in Cardiff Bay’s Inner Harbour. The hybrid application is also seeking full planning permission for the new Cardiff Arena and a hotel on the site of the existing Cardiff Council County Hall car park.
Cardiff Council selected the consortium of Robertson as developer and Live Nation and Oak View Group as operator as the preferred bidder to deliver the arena and hotel in 2020.
The council’s cabinet has already approved the masterplan for Atlantic Wharf, which it hopes will connect the area to Cardiff Bay, creating a visitor destination for the city. Cardiff estimates the new development will attract more than 1m visitors annually and will create thousands of new jobs.
A planning statement from Arup said the arena is “the anchor project and catalyst of the masterplan” and would be the first phase to come forward. “The arena would provide a step-change in the number of visitors to the area,” it added, estimating that more than 1m people would visit each year.
The wider regeneration can create “a new urban destination and infrastructure that strengthens links from the city centre to the bay”, according to planning documents from Rio Architects and HOK, which have designed the scheme.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a thriving new city neighbourhood,” they added.
