Commercial Property
New compulsory purchase powers could ease mixed-used development.
The right of assembly
Mixed use development is fashionable but sufficiently large sites are hard to assemble - just look at fort dunlop. new legislation could ease the process, says david thame
It's very now, very happening, very urban. Mixed-use redevelopment has gripped the planners, developers and local politicians responsible for our inner cities.
Of course mixed-use development is nothing new: a bustling mix of shops, offices and homes has always been an essential ingredient in any successful city - whether 14th century Florence or 21st century Birmingham.
But today, mixed use is somewhere between a fad, a dogma and a holy grail in the minds of many urban regeneration experts. And they are using it to change the way the Midlands looks.
Having worked on mixed-use schemes at Birmingham's Brindleyplace and Mailbox, Alan Chatham is now spearheading the redevelopment of the city's notorious Fort Dunlop site (see side panel).
Unoccupied and all but derelict for more than 20 years, Fort Dunlop is one of the biggest regeneration challenges in the Midlands. If mixed use can work at Fort Dunlop then it can work anywhere.
But as Chatham concedes, so far plans for the 350,000 sq ft scheme have had ups and downs.
In September 2002 pressure from planners forced a re-think at the £340m-plus project. Developer Urban Box had to slash the retail element in the scheme from 135,000 sq ft to just 27,000 sq ft. The scheme is now dominated by offices with scope for residential and leisure.
Chatham explains: "Getting the retail element right in a mixed-use scheme can be a problem, especially for existing buildings like Fort Dunlop. We had to find the solutions which avoided a big retail or leisure scheme because a proposal like that would have been called in for determination by the government and would probably have taken four years to sort out.
"Yet on the other side, if we don't put enough retail in the scheme we don't generate enough revenue and that means we need more grants. In situations like this you are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea - and it's a special difficulty for the regeneration of buildings in slightly strange places like Fort Dunlop."
Chatham thinks that planners are beginning to understand the problems caused by balancing the various uses in mixed use schemes. Retail may be politically sensitive, but it is often vital to a scheme's economic viability, he says.
"I think local authorities recognise this now, but there was a time when they didn't. Our problem at Fort Dunlop wasn't really with local planners or with Advantage West Midlands but with the likelihood of the planning application being called in by Whitehall. It's a national problem," he says.
Hopes are high that this national problem - if that's what it is - can be resolved by legislation now making its way through Parliament. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill (see side panel) will streamline the planning system - and it could make large-scale mixed-use redevelopment much easier. That's because successful mixed-use development needs a large site capable of coping with a mix of uses - it's obvious really - and large sites rarely come ready-made. This in turn means that compulsory purchase powers and strong planning frameworks are necessary if such sites are to be assembled.
Chatham says: "The bill will help mixed development, I don't think there's any doubt about that. Schemes like Brindleyplace got going because the council used its compulsory purchase powers, and at the Mailbox we were lucky that we could assemble the site with only four purchases. But that really was lucky and it's something that doesn't happen very often. Generally, mixed use development gets held up by site assembly problems and the threat of compulsory purchase is often the only stick big enough to bring people to their senses and stop ransom negotiations."
Although urban regenerators wish the new legislation well, many fear that the new laws will translate into little or no action. They worry that planning authorities will remain reluctant to use the new compulsory purchase powers.
Mark McNamee is the new managing director at David McLean Developments (see overleaf) and the man now responsible for the £3300m Masshouse mixed-use redevelopment at Birmingham's Eastside. The project depends on the use of compulsory purchase orders to acquire around one-third of the nine acre site. A conditional development agreement was due to be signed as Finance Midlands Insider went to press.
"Mixed use is what everyone wants, so planners and public sector bodies will generally be more forthcoming and will ease the path. The government has announced issues to help development, but it really needs to look more closely at the planning process before looking at new agencies and funds. Agencies and funding packages are all very well but if you can't get to first base thanks to the planning system it leads to frustration."
"Changes to the compulsory purchase rules will help absolutely - but we also need public bodies who aren't afraid to implement them," says McNamee.
The same doubts haunt mixed-use development in the East Midlands. The obstacles thrown up by the planning system have already caused one scheme on Nottingham's suburban fringe a number of delays (see side panel). Other developments are so far unscathed and according to Chris Brown, chief executive at Igloo Regeneration, one of the largest is set fair for success.
At last year's Urban Summit in Birmingham ISIS Waterside Regeneration - a partnership backed by Igloo - unveiled plans to provide 743,200 sq m (8m sq ft) of mixed-use space with an end value of more than £31.4bn. Nottingham was identified as one of the key sites.
The 250 acre canalside site will include leisure space, offices and new homes and is expected to become an extension to the city centre. It could take a generation to develop.
Brown says: "This will open out the prospects for the local economy and open up the waterfront in Nottingham. This isn't a government-inspired partnership in Nottingham. It's a partnership of local people, and they really want this type of environment to be created. All we're doing is responding to that demand, which helps with the planning process."
Even so, Brown does not reject the potential help new legislation could bring. "Yes, if the government get this right, then the new planning and compulsory purchase legislation will make an enormous difference. But they could end up getting it wrong by insufficiently encouraging local authorities and the regional development agencies to use their powers. It's a matter of nerve," he says.
The latest legislative proposals are likely to ease the path for the latest wave of ambitious mixed-use developments. But in the end determination - and developer confidence - is what matters most.
NEW LAWS
A streamlined planning system with stronger compulsory purchase powers could help mixed development in the Midlands, so experts say.
The purpose of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, which is now completing its Commons stages and is expected to become law this autumn, is to speed up the planning system. The bill introduces powers which allow for the reform and speeding up of the planning system, an increase in the predictability of planning decisions, and the speeding up of the handling of major infrastructure projects.
The bill also provides for urgent reforms to make the handling of planning applications both by central government and local authorities quicker and more efficient.
The provisions relating to compulsory purchase powers and compensation will liberalise the regimes and are intended to support policies relating to investment in major infrastructure and regeneration.
The bill sweeps away the old system of structure and unitary development plans. Instead, each region will have a regional spatial strategy drawn up by the regional development agency and, beneath that, local development documents (LDDs) written by local councillors. The idea is that the strategic planning system will be more simple and flexible.
But the centrepiece is part seven, which amends the existing power of local authorities, joint planning boards and National Park authorities to make compulsory purchase orders. They will now be able to acquire land by compulsory purchase if they think that it will facilitate the carrying out of development, re-development or improvement on or in relation to the land, on condition that such acquisition will be of economic, social or environmental benefit to their area.
This part of the bill also makes provision for a new statutory scheme which, subject to certain exceptions, provides for "loss payments" for owners and occupiers not entitled to receive payments under the home loss scheme set out in sections 29 to 33 of the Land Compensation Act 1973.
NOTTS SO FAST...
Mixed-use development can easily fall foul of the planners, as Marks & Spencer discovered in Nottingham.
Its plans for a new store, a leisure centre and 72 apartments at West Bridgford have become embroiled in a lengthy and very public dispute.
Dubbed the Bridgford Monster by angry locals, the scheme secured just one vote from councillors at Rushcliffe Borough Council planning committee meeting. The plan was rejected and a raft of new proposals submitted including one which omits the leisure centre and apartments.
Abandoning mixed development may be the only way ahead for M&S, which is now in talks with the council.
But according to angry locals it's the store which is the problem. They claim it will generate as many as 20,000 extra traffic movements a week.
However, despite the vocal protests by some residents a survey in the local paper revealed 80 per cent supported the M&S development.
As Finance Midlands Insider went to press Ruschliffe councillors were once again considering the scheme in advance of a public inquiry.
Elsewhere in Nottingham the prospects for mixed development look better. In January it was revealed that Overton Developments is to develop a £375m retail, leisure and residential scheme on Trinity Square, a site adjoining Nottingham's Victoria shopping centre.
It will include around 200,000 sq ft of shops, 50,000 sq ft of leisure and around 120,000 sq ft of apartments or student accommodation.
Central to Overton's plans is the pedestrianisation of the area around the Victoria Centre. And who else but Marks & Spencer is said to be eyeing the site for a 60,000 sq ft store as it looks to smooth out its operations in Nottingham?
FORT DUNLOP
For 22 years drivers on the M6 have watched Fort Dunlop decay. But if plans by Urban Box are realised, they could soon be looking at a striking glass box, a forested entrance and a so-called urban stately home.
Urban Box director Alan Chatham explains: "The architect's concept is to use the existing building and to renovate it to create an external envelope. It will be almost a relic. But inside it, about 1.5m back from the existing wall, we're setting a glass box which rises through the roof to create a new space within the old. It will be incredibly striking, especially from the motorway. Millions of people will see it.
"We want to break people's preconceptions about the building, and part of that is making people proud of it," says Chatham.
The idea is that visitor will arrive in a forest of trees - "a complete contrast of expectations," says Chatham - and then walk up a central drive reminiscent of the stately homes of the 18th century.
"This building has the mark of an urban stately home. It'll be wonderful," says Chatham.
Negotiations with potential occupiers at Fort Dunlop are now reaching a conclusion. An announcement is expectedsoon.
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