Central Square

I'm only yanking your chain Karl, don't be so serious



I don't know whether to be flattered or disturbed. Either way my eyes are watering.

Looks like McAlpine is lined up to do the interchange with the possibility of starting in the spring, subject to planning:
http://www.constructionenquirer.com/201 ... terchange/

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/wondering-how-150m-interchange-scheme-10615199

We've seen the video before but what interested me most about this article is it mentions the commercial space being between 200,000 and 400,000 square foot! I'd read the 200,00 before but not scaling it up to 400k.

Has anyone else seen that before? That certainly sorts out the HMRC requirement for space.

I fear for the city centre with all these new people! Council & Assembly need to urgently invest in roads, rail & bus. Not by taking lanes of traffic away for bus lanes but ensuring enough lanes to keep things on the move. There may need to be a glut of compulsory purchases. Newport Rd in particular is a shambles, roads should not resemble an egg timer!

I think a new system for SD2 car park access is vital. That's the main reason for congestion in the city centre currently.

I think John Lewis car park access is just as bad, as well as the poor situation of customhouse street only being open to buses and taxis. I think a lot will change with the bus interchange access.

Anyone know if this is out of date or current?
http://commercialsearch.savills.co.uk/c ... ochure.pdf

It makes reference to a Jury's Inn development (below), which I imagine has been canned since they bought Park Place on Greyfriars Road.
http://whiteink.co.uk/projects.php?ptid ... =1&fpid=66

The attached CGI suggests that the whole area, including St David's House is part of the latter stages of the Central Square development.

Incidently, I'm really hoping that the proposed tower in Phase 4 is actually an office development rather than a residential one. Cardiff could really do with a good, quality tall building for commerical purposes.

It's out of date because of Interchange design as it stands is quite different to the above.

The image below from the Central Square website gives a better indication (apologies for the size). It's probably better for you to view it on the actual website. http://centralsquarecardiff.co.uk/#!/the-masterplan-aeriel-view



We don't know how big the Interchange is going to be yet in terms of commercial space, so the building we see in the picture above could change it's shape I guess. Likewise are they getting anywhere with residential companies or hotel operators, all that might affect this quite a bit I guess. I've seen the commercial space mentioned as being 200,000 squart foot and also lately being as much as 400,000 which points at them being in negotiations with HMRC I suppose.

EDIT : Actually Number 2 is quite a bit different from the first masterplan as well isn't it ?

The plans for the "Interchange" are still in development. I guess they are speaking to HMRC to see:
a) How much they are willing to pay for space. HMRC might not be willing to pay top whack grade A rents (probably something like £24-25 per square foot on this building) and while the developer will discount if they can get a big pre-let, they won't go too far. This site will be attractive to a host of occupiers in a range of use classes. If they decide HMRC aren't willing to pay enough, I'd hazard they will go for a mixed use scheme with multi-let offices, resi and hotel.
b) How much HMRC actually want. They could try to squash their people in to something like 180,000 square feet. In which case we might get another 100,000 of offices for others, and still have space for alternative uses like apartments or a hotel. On the other hand, if they go up to 350,000 square feet, alongside a bit more office space, this would mean other uses could be squeezed out.

If HMRC baulk at the rents here, where might they go? Callaghan Square southside? Capital Quarter? (the remaining plots could probably be configured to offer enough space).

But back to Central Square. I think the footprint of Number 2 is very similar, its the massing that is different. TBH, the building in the new "aerial view" doesn't look big enough. Number 2 is meant to be around 100,000 square feet of lettable space, compared to 135,000 in Number 1. In that picture though, it doesn't look anywhere near 3/4 of the size given the much lower height (it looks like 7 floors of offices on one side, and maybe 5 on the other other?

I've been told HMRC have a preferred site but they are keeping quiet whilst negotiating. There was a great deal of unhappiness when someone leaked to the media.