Bright spots appear for retail construction

The growth of online shopping and pressure on consumer spending is inevitably taking its toll on the prospects for new retail construction work.

But there are some bright spots which offer potential for new work as landlords and major store groups look to reconfigure dated shopping centres and other retail space for different uses and to appeal to new markets.

Recent financial results from Hammerson, the largest owner of UK shopping centres which is seeking to ‘reinvigorate’ its city centre assets in the wake of dwindling consumer footfall, highlighted some themes which are creating new retail construction opportunities across the sector.

‘Repurposing’ space

At the Bullring in Birmingham, for example, Hammerson is ‘repurposing’ a former Debenhams store to create a new M&S with food, clothing, and home offers. Work on the £1 million conversion across 67,000 sq ft of space is due to start in late 2022 (Project ID: 21367884).

Another tenant at the Bullring, TOCA Social, is set to develop an interactive football and dining experience across 40,000 sq ft on an upper floor of the centre which is due to open next year.

As well as reconfiguring space, Hammerson is accelerating its development programme on land it owns. It has just over 100 acres of land - with 6 million sq ft of residential space potential - largely next to existing retail centres, where it is looking at feasibility studies for mixed-use developments. Near term projects where it is well-advanced include Martineau Galleries, Birmingham, a 7.5-acre site with plans for up to 1,300 homes and 130,000 sq m of workspace (Project ID: 05669647).

Meanwhile in Leicester, detailed plans have recently been granted to Hammerson to demolish a former Debenhams store and to develop a new £21.3 million scheme with over 330 homes and commercial space (Project ID: 20490306).

Significant scale

The significant scale of some schemes in the sector is highlighted by a project at 7 Burlington Gardens in London’s Mayfair, where tenders have recently been returned for a major retail conversion for client Pristine London. The £30 million scheme involves various listed buildings being adapted through the creation of a ‘retail gallery’ on the ground floor to display rare furniture with a new café/restaurant alongside. Work on the project is set to start in late summer 2022 and continue for 20 months (Project ID: 20488620).

Shopping centres which are past their prime are also offering opportunities for conversion into laboratory and office space, particularly in towns and cities with growing clusters of tech businesses.

In Oxford, detailed plans have been submitted for the £34.25 million Clarendon Centre Redevelopment which will involve the partial demolition of the Clarendon shopping centre and the removal of the mall’s roof and the creation of new R&D, office and retail space, together with some student accommodation. Work on the scheme which will cover 21,471 sq m of space is set to start this autumn and run for 19 months (Project ID: 21077626).

Redundant retail space is also being redeveloped for the leisure sector. In Lancashire, detailed plans have been granted for the partial conversion of the upper floor of the Skelmersdale Concourse Shopping Centre into a multi-leisure and entertainment complex, complete with food and drink retail space. Work on the £12.2 million project across 6,500 sq m of space for Moorgate Development is set to get underway later this summer and run for seven months (Project ID: 21158232).