EXCLUSIVE: Most detailed plans yet seen on the Grosvenor Centre redevelopment are revealed
THE MOST detailed plans ever published for the redevelopment of the Grosvenor Centre have been revealed by the mall’s owners, Legal & General.
The images, which were due to go on show at the centre this morning, show for the first time exactly how radically Northampton would change if the Greyfriars bus station was demolished and 60 new shops and a hotel were built in its place.
Speaking to the Chron, Legal & General’s senior fund manager, Simon Russian, admitted the development had been talked about for years and acknowledged there was scepticism about it among some of Northampton’s shoppers, but he pledged the firm was 100 per cent behind the project and would submit a planning application for the development before the end of the year, with work expected to start on site by 2014 and be completed by 2017.
He said: “I’ve been doing these sort of schemes for 20 years and this is a very challenging one.
“But we’re very confident we’ve got it right now and we’ve met the needs of the town with these plans.
“It’s been talked about for a long time, we all know that, but it’s now coming to fruition.”
The plans reveal much of the new centre would be open air, with old streets which were demolished to make way for the Greyfriars bus station reinstated – restoring direct links between the town centre and Lady’s Lane.
They also show the development would stretch all the way from the Mayorhold car park to the crown court building.
Among the plans for the new-look centre are 60 new shops, more than doubling the number in the current centre, a hotel close to the current Mayorhold car park and a large new department store, which it is believed could be filled by House of Fraser.
The existing Grosvenor Centre would also undergo major changes and renovation, with walkways created through the mall into the new extension.
Mr Russian said: “We want it to be more like an extension of the town centre, rather than a new shopping centre and we want to get people into Northampton who don’t currently come, people who now go to Milton Keynes or Market Harborough.”
While the plans show in great detail where new shops would go, it has not yet been decided where a new bus station will be built, with options at the moment including Sheep Street, the Mayorhold area and Lady’s Lane.
Mr Russian has said however that major roadworks would be carried out, with the existing Greyfriars road built over and the current layout of Lady’s Lane changed.
The Legal & General executive will be on-hand at the Grosvenor Centre today to explain the plans to residents. While he acknowledged many people were cynical about the development, as it was first announced in 2000 and no building work has yet begun, he said he hoped people would be excited when they saw how much planning was now going on.
He said: “We like Northampton. It’s a growing place with a real, un-tapped market and it’s only going to get better.
“So this is a serious commitment from us. We want everybody to get behind us and the people of Northampton to feel a part of it and excited about it.”
Shoppers can say what they like or dislike about the plan, say what type of shops they would like to see in a new-look Grosvenor Centre and talk to officials from Legal & General during the two-day presentation of the scheme which is being held outside the Superdry store in the centre both today and tomorrow.
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Comments
There are 24 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Pruned
Monday, March 21, 2011 at 09:56 AMOn here some ask why people do not shop in Northampton, unfortunately I had to visit the town centre last week. To express how awful it was words fail me, vomit, urine and so much litter strewn about not forgetting the beggars and others. The extortionate parking fees and narrow parking spaces certainly did not add anything, an absolutely terrible experience not to be repeated quickly. Maybe the council should go on a jolly to other towns to see how they do things, Gloucester, Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich all come top mind, reasonable parking fees or out of town park and ride frequently run again reasonable charges. In the mean time I will keep humming “It’s a dirty ‘ol town”.
HOS
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 05:46 PMNorthamptonians are critical and skeptical due to past promises of development or redevelopment that have not materialised in almost 20 years. Over the years there have been many artists impressions, plans, Architectural competitions, schemes and promises for the town centre, the market, the Grosvenor Centre, the old fish market, the train station, Abington Street and more that have failed to happen. A lot of people have been badly let down over a period of many years. People have the right to completely doubt anything they are told about development due to a long history of failed promises. The "big" improvements in total so far are a £350,000 fountain that works occassionally when it is`nt windy and the £500,000 coloured lights for the market that not many have seen if at all. ......... Northamptonians will be skeptical and have a right to be. We will be positive when we see something actually happening apart from the empty rhetoric, for us to be positive about ! .......... still waiting?
here and there
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 05:19 PMAs someone who is studying urban design planning this looks like a really positive design, bringing back the old street layout and linking the town centre beyond the inner ring road! This development should then spur on further regeneration and investment around the market square etc. A large all under one roof shopping centre would not achieve this. Can we not just support the plans and stop all the moaning and help make Northampton a place worth visiting where graduates and skilled workers businesses will actually want to locate. All the work going on with the market square and the train station demonstrates how much Northampton has to offer!
willi eckaslyke
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 12:46 PMGiles...sounds like you are in the shopfitting business.
HOS
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 08:24 AMIn its infinite wisdom and care for the town centre, what plans have the town council in place to safegaurd trade in the town centre while the Grosvenor centre is closed for several years during rebuilding? How badly will this closure effect town centre traffic for all the other retailers in a depressed economic environment? I assume the the town council have a plan in place to safegaurd the rest of the town centre`s business?
Giles
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 10:45 PMI have never read so much negativity from one forum! You lot are such a bunch of moaners and find fault with everything, but fail to unanimously suggest anything positive for the town in its place! Of course a new shopping centre (or improved and extended one in this instance) is going to benefit the town! Banbury had the new Castle Quays development about 10 years ago and can name other towns in recent years like the Eden Centre in High Wycombe, the Spires in Leicester and Willow Place in Corby... These have all injected new life into the town and sttract far more shoppers than they did previously. It would be nice if this town welcomed change, which is here is benefit us all, instead of moaning about what we have now and moaning about what we have to make things better! (PS - I have nothing to do with L&G or NBC!)
AbingtonAll
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 12:42 PMExciting stuff. Agree with others - hurry up and get this done and make sure the bus interchange is properly planned so it links up well with the planned railway station redevelopment. There are loads of great buildings and facilities within the ring road - make the central area car free and have lots of cycle parking, high standard of public realm and decent facilities for bus users. Hopefully this will deal with the damage done to the town in the last century with concrete nightmares. N.b. The whole Milton Keynes thing is a red herring. They are increasing car parking charges and with the cost of petrol ever rising (peak oil etc), the idea that people will drive in large numbers to MK in the future is a fantasy...
lady muck
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 07:47 AMWhen I worked in town, the shops were always busy around the middle of the day, with office workers from the insurance companies, banks, Anglia BS Barclaycard etc. They have gone and now the town seems empty. However many nice little delicatessens, rural craft shops or speciality shops, the simple fact is that I can drive to a retail outlet or supermarket for most everyday items. Why would I want to drive into the town, and pay to park ? in brief, the question that has never been answered is, 'What is there in the town to attract visitors ?'
Chrispy1
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 01:36 AMHello! Yet MORE pretty pictures! No actual plans, no start date, no funding comitted but a hope that it might be done in 2017!!!!! Forgive me if I don't believe a word.....
jetmangraham
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 12:59 AMSo again I ask, why is the council hell bent on getting an ADDITIONAL 60 shops built in the town centre when there are already nearly that many that cannot find tenants at the moment. Whenn are they going to realise that it isn't the choice of stores or lack thereof that has driven shoppers away. Three things have done that. The internet. Paid for parking. The generally insecure feeling around the Town Centre with no apparant input from our boys in blue. Town Centre shopping around the whole country is dying yet NBC think building more shops is a good thing. If they want a vibrant town centre they need vibrant things in it not the same chain store crap you can see in every other clone town around the country.
TheCount
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 06:29 PMIt's not shops we need it's some real jobs, the shops will follow if we create some wealth. Building shops to bring in JobsMoney is just a measure of how stupid the people in charge of Northampton really are.
Damocles
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 06:26 PMYou don't regenerate a town centre by building concrete chain stores that are closed at night.
Reverend
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 05:27 PMSo where would the increased access be? Still no extra parking facilities, and still no development of vehicular access points along with failing public transport. I'd still go to MK for the ease of access, larger choice of shopping & eateries and cheaper parking.
nlboy
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 04:34 PMIt`s not another House of Fraser we need,It`s a John lewis & a bigger M&S & while they are at it,perhaps an Aldi store which would look better than the weed strewn wasteland that WNDC managed to create!!!
mabbuttj
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 02:54 PMI didnt like it when they took Derngate bus station away it was igood location for town it had loads of room for exspansion the theartre should have gone where the bus station is and they should have kept Derngate
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