| £1
Billion Investment |
| Cathedral
Green |
| The Vic |
GATEWAY
Derby Cityscape has bought Princes
Supermarket, Bold Lane. The move is Cityscape's
first "strategic investment" and has
been bought to ensure that there is enough space
to build residential and commercial properties
during the planned 20-year regeneration. EMDA
bought the site on behalf of Derby Cityscape,
which refused to say how much it cost or what
would be built there.
Cityscape chief executive John Cadwallader said,
"Buying land is one of the interventions
that we'll make in the coming months and years to
ensure there are sites of sufficient scale to
accommodate the key developments that will
revitalise Derby city centre." Princes
Supermarket will continue to trade under its
present lease until the future use of the site
and surrounding area is determined. |
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DERBY CITYSCAPE
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A £3m centre in Ford Street to house
graphic design, music production, film-making and
computer game firms has been approved. The building will
have office space for 40 businesses, meeting rooms and a
café. The centre has been designed to provide the space,
layout, broadband access and location necessary for small
creative businesses that have outgrown places like
Network House, at the University of Derby and Banks' Mill
studios, in Bridge Street. It is hoped that the likes of
EM Media, which is part of the UK Film Council and Arts
Council England in the East Midlands will set up bases at
the centre.
The
studios were officially opened in November last year and
the city council hoped that by now it would be a base for
up to 40 creative businesses. But the studios are
expected to have a £150,000 overspend by the end of this
month. The reason for the overspend has been put down to
just a handful of units being let. The council is now
analysing the rent rates at the studios compared to those
for similar businesses across the city. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)
Plans are being drawn up to build more than
5,000 new homes in Derby city centre which would mean a
four-fold increase in housing in the city centre, from
about 1,500 homes currently to more than 6,500 in a few
years' time. Under the plans, the city's Castle Ward area
alone, bordered by Traffic Street, Derby railway station
and Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, would see housing
increase by a massive 1,400%, from 200 homes currently to
an "urban village" containing 3,000 new homes,
civic squares and a new primary school.
John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape,
said the main departure from the original estimate was
the proposed regeneration of Castle Ward, which would act
as a "gateway" to the city centre from the
railway station. "It will mean building, in the
main, on existing car park sites. There's an awful lot of
open, undeveloped space," said Mr Cadwallader.
The council documents have also revealed that up to 250
new riverside homes are being earmarked for Meadow Road,
a site currently occupied by the Evening Telegraph
offices and the Trent Barton bus depot, although neither
firm has indicated any intention to relocate. Mr
Cadwallader said, "We are not in the business of
moving vibrant businesses and facilities out of the city
centre. But in the event that the DET or Trent wanted to
be elsewhere, then the appropriate use for that site
would be for a residential development."
Derby Cityscape is a limited company
supported by private and public organisations, including
Derby City Council, the East Midlands Development Agency
and English Partnerships, and was set up to aid
development in the city centre. Areas that have already
been identified for regeneration include the riverside
area, Duckworth Square, Friar Gate and Cathedral Row as
well as the Litchurch and Castle wards and improvements
to areas such as the Market Place. Work to draw up a
master plan, which will be unveiled next spring, is due
to start in August. It has already been revealed that one
of the first additions to the city will be a £750,000
footbridge across the River Derwent to link Cathedral
Green, which is off Full Street, and Stuart Street.
Planning permission has been granted for Ashbourne-based
Derby City Living Ltd to build 76 apartments in Stuart
Street, on the former Eggleston Brothers site in a £14m
project. Architectural and civil engineering firms will
be invited to tender for designing and building the
bridge later in the year. Michael Hall, acting chief
executive of Derby Cityscape, said, "Consultation
with the people of Derby about the opportunities for
development will be key to the success of Derby
Cityscape. Although the regeneration master plan for the
whole Cityscape area has not been finalised, it is widely
acknowledged that this footbridge will be key to future
plans.
It will link two key areas of the city centre and will
open up under-used public space close to the Silk Mill,
which forms the gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World
Heritage Site." Bob Laxton, MP for Derby North,
said, "Derby needs to develop and we need to get
more life back into the city and one of the long-standing
issues is to try to get more people to make use of the
river." Maurice Burgess, leader of Derby City
Council, said, "The idea of a footbridge could
enhance the area." The ambitious scheme to breathe
new life into Derby city centre will cost £50m more than
was originally expected.
It had been calculated that the number of residential,
office and leisure developments would cost about £225m.
But, on closer inspection, the Cityscape project is now
expected to need £275m worth of investment. Michael
Hall, who is the acting chief executive of Derby
Cityscape, said, "We've had a closer look at all of
the different projects and we have worked out the amount
that would have to be spent to achieve all the projects
that have been identified. This is now estimated to be
around £275m."
To fund the various projects that are put forward under
the Cityscape vision, money will come from a range of
public and private companies. Board members come from a
range of organisations and companies from across Derby,
which aim to help create a city-wide vision of
development.
Board members include Norman Askew; Jeff Moore, deputy
chief executive of the East Midlands Development Agency;
Dennis Hone, director of English Partnerships; Councillor
Philip Hickson, deputy leader of Derby City Council;
Peter Richardson, chief executive of The Derbyshire
Building Society; Paul Kearney, managing director of the
Derby Evening Telegraph; Peter Gadsby, chairman of Cedar
House Investments; Ray Cowlishaw, chief executive of
Derby City Council; Peter Miller, development director of
Westfield; Nick Richardson, managing director of Wilson
Bowden Developments Ltd; and David Williams, senior
partner of Edwards and Geldard.
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