Retail developments are powering on throughout the country in response to the improving economy and investor confidence. However, Shrewsbury’s Riverside development is once more facing issues which have pushed back the completion date of the project, with site owner UK Commercial Property Trust handing the keys over to Shrewsbury based social enterprise company Imagematch UK as an interim measure whilst options are considered.
Imagematch UK has confirmed that it will be responsible for filling the empty units in the existing shopping centre, which it will retain control of until March 2017. This may be something of a challenge, as at present only two retailers – Wilkinson and Cool Trader – remain as tenants, with retailers such as the Co-Op, Ryman and Greggs having deserted their units in preparation for the construction phase of the project.
It is thought that financial concerns are at the root of current issues facing the development phase of the new shopping complex, which would eventually see space created for 50 shops, 10 restaurants and a new multi-storey car park. Unfortunately, this eventuality is looking less and less likely as the original completion date of Christmas 2015 was pushed back to August 2017 – a date which has again been delayed, but without an announcement regarding a future completion forecast.
Although the new deal with Imagematch UK means that any work on the site will not be able to begin until April 2017 at the latest, company director Mark Gibson is confident that the planned redevelopment will still go ahead. He also stressed that his company’s involvement with the project will strictly be in the short term.
He continued; “This is an interim project. We wanted longer but were only given a three year contract. It will be going ahead as far as we know.”
This stalled project goes against the grain in the current UK commercial property market, with developers keen to cash in on the lucrative opportunities afforded by rising consumer disposable income. Had the project met its original completion targets, it would have helped Shrewsbury become a realistic rival to nearby Telford as a prime retail destination – yet as the opening date is pushed further and further back, this seems increasingly unlikely in the near future.
This new deal with Imagematch UK may be the site owner’s method of raising funding to continue the project, but with the future of the complex uncertain and retailers unlikely to gain a lease for longer than the three year period agreed upon in the deal it may be that Shrewsbury’s ailing shopping centre may remain deserted for quite some time.
