Cardiff Bay/Mermaid Quay developments

probably the same business but they have switched from an Italian franchise brand to a Danish one.

Always seemed like a strange place for a furniture showroom to me, but it didn't work as a bar/restaurant either - wasn't it Sports Cafe years ago?

I think it's just too far away from the inner harbour/mermaid quay. The units at Sovereign Quay have struggled as well.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/commerc ... b-30752452

This is a bit of a surprise to me. I thought they had pretty much given up on pushing the bay as an office location. I knew that the council wanted to get out of County Hall, but assumed they would be looking for office space in the city centre.

I've nothing against new offices in the bay, just seems that we tried that and it didn't work - thought they were focusing on leisure and residential uses.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/huge-900-space-multi-storey-30802492

The first piece of the Arena jigsaw, is there a plan to demolish the Red Dragon centre any time soon or is this after the arena has been built?

the phasing plan shows that RDC doesn't need be demolished until after the car park, arena and part of the 'mixed use quarter' are built. The space occupied by RDC is needed for the public square/event space in front of the arena and the remainder of the mixed use buildings. Presumably, this would allow for some of the businesses in RDC to relocate to the new mixed use development depending on lease agreements etc.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/plans-major-public-sector-hub-30752452

This is a bit of a surprise to me. I thought they had pretty much given up on pushing the bay as an office location. I knew that the council wanted to get out of County Hall, but assumed they would be looking for office space in the city centre.

I've nothing against new offices in the bay, just seems that we tried that and it didn't work - thought they were focusing on leisure and residential uses.

Its probably good to still push the office use down the Bay to broaden the footfall.. Especially for bars, cafes and restaurants who's business can be spread over over more than just the weekend. With the new connection to Cardiff it could be more attractive to commute to as well.

The Senedd have put out a tender for a new office building to potentially replace the rather unattractive Ty Hywel.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/plans-new-120000-sq-ft-30931999

The empty plot next door was bought by Righacres in 2023, so would seem like the ideal option. Would be good to fill a big void on the waterfront as well.