£30M VISION FOR CITY SITE
Date : 22.10.07
A Developer has revealed new plans to breathe life back into a city-centre site that has stood vacant for years.
The £30m scheme will transform the former police station and magistrates' court in Full Street, bringing 125 apartments, up to four restaurants and 95,000 square feet of office space to the derelict area.
Work on the development could get under way as soon as spring next year and be completed by the end of 2009 or early 2010.
The site has been surrounded by hoardings and boarded up since 2004, when Wilson Bowden bought the site for £4.25m.
Originally, the company wanted to spend £20m creating 178 apartments.
Despite outlining its plans in 2005, Wilson Bowden never formally submitted them to the city council because it said that it wanted to discuss the proposals with the authority. Two years later, two boxes of site drawings and plans have been sent to council planners.
It is a far cry from the vision of the residential development which was originally outlined two years ago.
Office space, large restaurant areas and a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom apartments are now included in the proposal, part of which would front the River Derwent, while the remainder would overlook Cathedral Green.
Graham Cosgrove, development director at Wilson Bowden, said that he had consulted with the city council, Derby Cityscape and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and was now confident that the plans were right for the key city-centre location.
"We've worked with the city council to make sure what we've got lined up integrates well with their proposals and work on Cathedral Green," he said.
"This is a prominent city-centre location and we wanted to make sure we got it right."
Despite the delays and concerns that Wilson Bowden would sell the site rather than develop it, Mr Cosgrove said that he had remained committed to the project.
"We've never faltered at all in our belief in this site as a prominent, prime and prestigious location," he said.
Chris Williamson, the leader of Derby City Council, said that the development would be a boost for the area. He said: "More office accommodation is exactly what this end of the city needs. It very much fits in with our ambition to transform the city and put anchors in the north of the city to create footfall in the traditional part."
Mr Williamson said that it was also an improvement on the previous proposals, which faced away from Cathedral Green.
"This development will open on to Cathedral Green, which is much better because it will blend with and complement the work there," he said.
Of the 125 apartments, 51 would be in the grade II-listed magistrates' court, which would be restored. The remaining 74 would be new-build apartments accessed via a courtyard off Full Street.
On the ground floor of the new build, there would be space for four restaurants. Wilson Bowden said that it believed that restaurants of the same quality as Pizza Express would be ideal.
The remaining floors would be turned into "high specification" office space in the hope of attracting top regional businesses and even the Government departments the city would like to see relocating from London.
John Cadwallader, of urban regeneration company Derby Cityscape, said: "While we've been disappointed that the site was acquired for development about four years ago, we understand from the developer that much of this time had been spent in refining the design.
"The proposals have been developed to complement the street-scape of this area.
"A benefit that's come about from the delay in bringing this scheme forward is that they've amended their plans to take into account the remodelled Cathedral Green.
"This is yet another development with offices which will bring footfall and more employment opportunities to the Cathedral Quarter."
Article courtesy of Kirsty Green Derby Evening Telegraph