It was 17 years ago when plans for a redevelopment and extension to Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre were first submitted. A public inquiry which saw the plans thrown out, a change of ownership and a major rethink of the proposals are just some of the hurdles encountered since then. However, this week the doors to the 800,000 sq ft Westgate Oxford finally opened.
The £440m development by the Westgate Partnership – a joint venture by the Crown Estate and Landsec – has been a long time in the making but it opens 88% let with 65 units trading on launch day. Ninety shops are expected to be trading by Christmas and Scott Parsons, managing director, retail portfolio at Landsec, anticipates the centre will be fully let by March.
With its diverse catchment population together with students and tourists he says Oxford was in dire need of “fitting retail and leisure”.
“We wanted a centre that could achieve BREEAM excellent – which we have done – we wanted a great mix of retail and leisure, and architecture that wasn’t just fit for the consumers, but fit for the amazing historical city in which is sits.”
A John Lewis store anchors the scheme, which also features the city’s first public roof terrace.
Robert Gibbons of Carter Jonas Oxford says Westgate Oxford is a welcome addition to the city describing it as a “turning point” particularly in its leisure offer.
“The other big play for the scheme is the introduction of a large entertainment facility led by the Curzon cinema brand and Junkyard Golf. This will see the centre stay open late into the evening providing a much-needed post-work leisure offering. Considering the tenant line-up generally, they appear to be of a quality at the higher end of the scale and will supplement the tenant mix already in Oxford.”
Gibbons says concerns that the scheme would attract existing tenants from the city centre have proved unfounded as only a handful have moved to date. “Encouragingly, some occupiers such as Wagamama have not relocated to Westgate and decided to instead retain their presence on the high street. In fact, a significant number of Westgate tenants are new entrants into Oxford’s market.”
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