General Developments

A bit of news:

Didn't know Superbowl and Laserquest were opening or had opened in the Millennium Plaza!
http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_110921

A new bureau de change in St Davids centre:
http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_110768

I think a new retailer is coming in to replace Evans on Queen St (Think this might be Jacamo/Simply Be)
http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_110689

And a new shop and conversion to flats on St Mary's Street:
http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_110421

The laserquest and bowling alley are yet to open, (the bierkeeller mentioned hasn't had any work done yet)

The St Mary's one appears to have a status of withdrawn.

This one is surprising, wasn't expecting this so soon;

Rightacres Property Company Limited, C/O Agents, ,
Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners, Helmont House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, , CF10 2HE

DEMOLITION OF MARLAND HOUSE, FULL PLANNING APPLICATION FOR MEDIA CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR RETAIL AND CAFE UNITS (USE CLASSES A1 A2 A3) ROOF-TOP PLANT, SATELLITE DISHES AND PHOTO VOLTAIC PANELS (PLOT 3) BASEMENT CAR PARKING TO PLOTS 2 AND 3, PUBLIC REALM AND LANDSCAPING, AND RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENGINEERING WORKS. OUTLINE APPLICATION FOR UP TO 14,550SQM GROSS CLASS B1 (A) OFFICE FLOORSPACE (PLOT2) WITH ALL MATTERS RESERVED EXCEPT ACCESS.
LAND TO NORTH OF CARDIFF CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION INCORPORATING CARDIFF BUS STATION, MAR

Doesn't mention the new bus station though.

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/wal ... diff-base/

Legal and General looking for additional space soon? Their suggested move has gone quiet - could this be a spur to start thinking again?

Not sure the "customer service hub" is something to get too excited about though - another call centre?! But perhaps they will also relocate some higher skilled jobs, as they do mention university links.

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/wales/131708-legal-general-plans-grow-cardiff-base/

Legal and General looking for additional space soon? Their suggested move has gone quiet - could this be a spur to start thinking again?

Not sure the "customer service hub" is something to get too excited about though - another call centre?! But perhaps they will also relocate some higher skilled jobs, as they do mention university links.

Could that be why they've delayed selecting new offices for their current staff, because they've been working out how many new roles are moving to the city first. That way they can sort out their office space requirements in one go.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/20-jobs-being-created-premiere-8436412

Premiere Cinemas to open in the Capitol in late February. With all tickets for shows at £4, I'll definitely venture there. Am I right in thinking there is room/was a bowling alley in the Capitol? Is there much of the Centre not being used now after the reopening of the cinema?

There were plans for an All Star Lanes bowling alley (www.allstarlanes.co.uk) in the former "Index" unit underground which is the largest space remaining in the centre. Sadly the plans fell through.

http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_110955

Not seen this before - plan for a new office building in the Waterfront 2000 scheme. That is the one to the south of Tyndall St (opposite Capital Quarter), where there are a few courtyard style office developments.

5 storey, quite different to whats there already, but badged as "similar in style" to the "nearby" CQ scheme. True, the style has some similarity, but I do think the contrast with the closer buildings will be a bit jarring.

Interesting its being proposed though, because as far as I can tell, it sits just outside the Enterprise zone. Wouldn't that be a fairly big disincentive against this as a site, or will they argue for an extension to cover them too (as Admiral, and CQ successfully did). Or are they going for a differnet market - smaller occupiers, taking a few hundred square feet of space - than they think the enterprise zone is aimed at? Hrm.

To be honest, as much as I admire the ambition of all these proposed developments (Capital Quarter,Central Square, Callaghan Square, Assembly Square, Porth Teigr etc) I am somewhat mystified about where all the commercial interest is supposed to be coming from to even begin to take up (let alone complete)all this new space. Based on previous levels of demand in the city (coupled with the general downsizing which occurs when tenants move from other city centre premises eg BG, BBC) , I can't help but conclude most of it is pie in the sky wishful thinking which is never going to get off the ground.

I saw this article and thought some would like to see the renders of the works that bellerephon (I think) are building down the bay

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... ay-8441315

A bit bland to say the least! Still It fills an empty space and should improve the social mix in that part of the city. Meanwhile the council has unveiled plans for one or possibly two new schools serving Grangetown & Butetown.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/cardiff-council-plans-major-schools-8483965

The gist of it seems to be that the council has swapped some of the vacant land north of County Hall for the site behind the Hammadryad hospital that had previously been earmarked for affordable housing. They're to consult on whether the school to be built there will be WM or EM.

If it's WM, EM schools in Butetown will be extended to cater for more pupils. If the Hammadryad school is EM - there'll be a new WM school on part of the Channel View site with the leisure centre remaining open.

Both solutions seem pretty sensible to me. Either site would be pretty central for the WM catchment area (Butetown and Grangetown wards) and increasing the EM provision should avoid the nasty linguistic tensions that can arise when extending WM provision appears to be to the detriment of the EM sector.

The only slightly sad part is that the last shred of Newtown's Irish identity look set to disappear as St Cuthbert's changes from a Catholic to a community school. That change reflects the reality of the students background but it's still a little moment in the city's history.