City of Culture Regeneration Plan promises boost to Hull Commercial Property Market

Posted on 11 July, 2014 by Cliff Goodwin

HULL City Council has unveiled the first £12.7m phase of the largest transformation project in the East Riding city’s history. The improvements — expected to cost at least £25m when complete — are part of the run up to Hull’s reign of UK City of Culture in 2017.

City-of-Culture-Regeneration-Plan-promises-boost-to-Hull-Commercial-Property-Market

Created by the authority’s physical regeneration team in partnership with the Newcastle-based landscape and urban design specialists, URS, the initial phase is being financed solely by the city council although it is hoping to attract additional key funding. The work will start this autumn.

“As a city, we need to raise our game in terms of delivering the ambitions of our published City Plan and preparing for our time as City of Culture,” said Steven Bayes, the council’s portfolio holder for visitor destination and City of Culture.

“City centre improvements are essential in Hull,” he added. “However, getting it right is key. Providing public spaces that are enjoyable, convenient, accessible and safe for the people that use them is vital. People’s needs — our residents, our businesses and the hundreds of thousands of visitors we expect to welcome to Hull city centre during 2017 and beyond — must be at the heart of all our improvements to public spaces.

The council’s cabinet is expected to formally approve the strategy later this month, paving the way for detailed design work to start on each element of the scheme which, collectively, it hopes will:I

  • Increase city centre retail turnover by almost £70m
  • Create an extra £16.8m of Gross Value Added within the local retail sector
  • Create 500 new jobs in the retail and tourist sectors over the next 10 years
  • Increase occupancy in city centre commercial properties
  • Improve investor confidence in Hull
  • Increase footfall and local spend within the city
  • Encourage more businesses into Hull city centre
  • Improve connections between different areas of the city centre

Martin Mancey is portfolio holder for the council’s energy policy and feels a joined-up approach to city centre planning is essential if the city is to achieve its potential. “The city centre will inevitably feature in much media coverage and marketing activities and these proposed improvements to the public realm will be a highly visible statement of Hull’s ambitions,” he said.

“The city needs to exploit this interest to attract further prestigious companies to view Hull as a place where they want to set up business, as well as enhancing the appeal of the city to tourists. It is essential therefore that Hull presents itself as an attractive place both to invest and visit.

Hull has an integral place as a key economic driver city, he stressed, particularly in the light of both Lord Adonis and George Osborne’s recent claims there was a growing need to improve connectivity between the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Hull in order to maximise northern investment opportunities.

Although many of the individual improvement projects have already been included in the council’s master plan for the city, the details come less than 24 hours after an announcement that Hull is getting £104m from the Government’s regional development fund to create thousands of jobs in the Humber region.




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Recent Posts

Interest Rates Impact on Commercial Property

Commercial Property Investment Outlook for 2023

The best places to stay on the Riviera

The latest property data has identified Newquay as the fastest property seller’s market in the UK

Investing in your garden can increase your property’s value

French Riviera temping high-end homebuyers

How can the ownership rights of my commercial property impact a business sale?

Should I incorporate virtual property viewings permanently?

Investment expected to increase across Asia-Pacific in 2021

UK property industry slows as the conclusion of tax break looms

BNP Paribas cautioned investors on Friday as debt-trading bonanza that increased its earnings this past year

Over 300,000 property purchases fell through in 2020 – we show the most frequent motives and the best way to get your house sale back on track

House Prices in the Capital Surpass £500,000

Optimism from the Bank of England’s chief economist

The most expensive commercial properties.

Businesses operating from shared premises will miss out on grants