Although the upturn in the economy has seen shopping centre vacancy rates plummet in the past two years, centre owners in areas with high levels of competition continue to struggle to attract top names.
In Coventry, however, Shearer Property Group has had a novel idea to address this issue at its Cathedral Lanes development – to transform the shopping centre into a top leisure destination with a little help from three major national restaurant brands.
It was confirmed this week that Wagamama, Cosy Club and Las Iguanas have all signed deals with the centre owner to open their first restaurants in the city later this year, following large scale redevelopment works to the existing complex. Shearer Property Group will invest around £6.5 million into transforming the centre into a new restaurant and bar quarter, with its planning application for upcoming works currently being reviewed by Coventry City Council.
Under the plans, phase one will see the 65,000 sq ft development’s iconic colonnade retained, but new balconies will be created on the first floor level as a means of creating outdoor dining space. This, along with outdoor seating on the ground floor level, will provide views over the adjoining Broadgate Square.
Guy Shearer, of Shearer Property Group, believes the lettings will prove heartening to consumers keen to see progress in the regeneration of Coventry city centre.
He says; “There is a shortage of quality bars and restaurants in the city, so we are delighted to announce these important lettings which mark the beginning of the regeneration process for this core area of the city and mean that our first phase is fully let.
“We are confident of attracting further quality restaurants to Cathedral Lanes following the opening of our first phase.”
Shearer Property Group acquired Cathedral Lanes from Hammerson in October last year in a deal worth £5.5 million. However, the centre’s high vacancy rate and the level of competition within Coventry’s retail scene saw the new owner instantly began to examine alternative uses for the city centre site, submitting a planning application for the transformation into a leisure quarter last month.
All three of the restaurant brands involved in the scheme will be new to Coventry, although both Wagamama and Las Iguanas have existing sites in Birmingham and Leamington Spa. Cosy Club has only nine outlets throughout the UK, and is planning a further opening in Birmingham later this year.
Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas welcomed the announcement, saying; “This is great news for Coventry and a real step forward for the city centre as we continue our drive to make Coventry a top ten city.
“We know the new owners of Cathedral Lanes have been really impressed by the work we’ve done in Broadgate to make it a great public space.
“For the first time we’ll now have a real buzz in this part of the city centre in the evenings, and we’re hoping this is just the start of developing a new restaurant and bar quarter which the city really needs.”
