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Central Square

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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paul cardiffwalesmap

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Re: Central Square

PostThu Apr 19, 2018 11:29 am

Yes indeed a Cardiff Beetham Tower would fit in lovely for plot 6!! ;) As for my height prediction of residential tower above station - I could be way out but I'm saying it'll be almost 300ft (90m) judging from render we've seen so far. If that's the case then 30ft taller than capital tower fronting wood st - quite an impact!
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Ash

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 10:40 am

paul cardiffwalesmap wrote: To say that this area will have been transformed is the understatement of the century! And the really good thing is that we haven't had to lose a single building that was worth saving (OK I had a bit of a soft spot for the Asteys building but given it's location it had to go) and look what we will have!!


I quite liked the Bus Station Terminal as well! It's also a pity that the mural from the old Thomson House couldn't be preserved and relocated. To be fair, I think that was demolished some years before Rightacres began the Central Square scheme.

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Amoore

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 11:46 am

Someone told me that the artist behind that mosaic was also responsible for this:

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Ash

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 1:57 pm

That seems unlikely although they were both done in the late fifties / early sixties.

The Thomson House one was by an artist called Ray Howard Jones and is described thus on Wikipedia.

Howard-Jones' 1959 mosaic, "An Eye for the People", was created in Italy and installed on Thomson House, Cardiff, after the artist had won a Wales-wide competition in 1958.[10] The 35-feet high mosaic included a giant blue eye which represented the role of the Western Mail newspaper in Wales.[11][10] After almost 50 years the mosaic and the building were demolished in 2008 before the Twentieth Century Society was able to save it.[11] The Society described it as "one of the finest post-war mosaics in Britain".[10] The only surviving mosaic by Howard-Jones is her 1965 altarpiece in Edinburgh.[10]
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RandomComment

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 4:47 pm

RandomComment wrote:But something strange about the quantum of space and financing.

The article is saying this scheme is £10 million cheaper than F&Ps: so £100 not £110 million, or 9% cheaper. But it involves 25% fewer apartments (300 not 400) and 30,000 square feet less office space.

Even if the 30,000 square feet could only command £15 a square foot, that would £450,000 a year. At a 7% yield (quite a bit above prime), that would be £6.5 million capital value. And then the capital value of apartments, even if they had to be affordably rented would surely be worth more than £35,000 each!
So there is something strange here... either the cost figures are wrong. The apartment numbers / office space figures wrong. OR.. they would have chosen a scheme which represents worse value for money for the taxpayer. That would indicate something dodgy going on in the background.


Does noone else find this interesting? I guess the most obvious thing is a mistake by WalesOnline. But taken at face value it would be evidence of massive incompetence and/or corruption.

I know for a lot of people here, the focus is on the buildings themselves. But the wider context of them has gotta be important too... no?
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Lewisbeecham

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 5:12 pm

But what if Cardiff Council are to take the office space? And perhaps have some sort of 'relaxed' rate from Welsh Government? Who own this land now.

County Hall demolished to make way for Red Dragon 2.0. Red Dragon 1.0 and adjoining car park demolished to make way for 15k arena.

It wouldn't surprise me if some sort of deal will slowly emerge to that effect.
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 5:21 pm

RandomComment wrote:
RandomComment wrote:But something strange about the quantum of space and financing.

The article is saying this scheme is £10 million cheaper than F&Ps: so £100 not £110 million, or 9% cheaper. But it involves 25% fewer apartments (300 not 400) and 30,000 square feet less office space.

Even if the 30,000 square feet could only command £15 a square foot, that would £450,000 a year. At a 7% yield (quite a bit above prime), that would be £6.5 million capital value. And then the capital value of apartments, even if they had to be affordably rented would surely be worth more than £35,000 each!
So there is something strange here... either the cost figures are wrong. The apartment numbers / office space figures wrong. OR.. they would have chosen a scheme which represents worse value for money for the taxpayer. That would indicate something dodgy going on in the background.


Does noone else find this interesting? I guess the most obvious thing is a mistake by WalesOnline. But taken at face value it would be evidence of massive incompetence and/or corruption.

I know for a lot of people here, the focus is on the buildings themselves. But the wider context of them has gotta be important too... no?


Nice analysis. Maybe the apartments are larger on average, which would offset the reduced number.

Alternatively, it could be that the whole Central Square deal was crooked from the start with a certain faction of Labour fighting for a bigger cut against the then prevailing Labour faction.

But what do I know?
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Philnpt

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 5:51 pm

The first two foster & partners designs only had 200 apartments
It wasn’t until the WAG stepped in that they mentioned 400 apartments.
So with 300 planned that’s an increase of 100
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Kyle

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Apr 20, 2018 5:59 pm

It's walesonline, so maybe it's a mistake on their behalf. Look at that basic East v West mistake they made the other day.

Until we see the actual plans we don't know how many apartments it'll actually be, how tall the building is going to be, how much actual office space it's going to be (that image looks more than 30,000sq ft to me) or how much retail space. Walesonline could have cocked up any of those figures they've quoted.

But then a bunch of politicians are involved...so yes something dodgy could be happening.

Neither would shock me one bit.
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Cardiff

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Re: Central Square

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 7:22 pm

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