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30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

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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Amoore

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 1:17 pm

Some exciting developments on this coming over the next few weeks, possibly sooner. There's a rumour going around that the plans include opening up the canal feeder on Churchill Way.
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paul cardiffwalesmap

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 2:29 pm

Amoore wrote:Some exciting developments on this coming over the next few weeks, possibly sooner. There's a rumour going around that the plans include opening up the canal feeder on Churchill Way.


Really looking forward to hearing more on this! I walked through the other day and I could almost hear the centre plead to be saved!! In conjunction with the unveiling of the churchill way hidden stretch of canal - sounds interesting. Please feel free to spill more beans to cheers us up on this wet grey day!! :)
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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 2:34 pm

The centre really does look dead now! What's happened to the proposed restaurants being drawn there by the cinema? Put off by the fact that the cinema faces outwards and so unlikely people would actually go into the centre and find them?
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Amoore

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 3:18 pm

Well, put it this way, I think the centre is less 'pleading to be saved' and more having a good rest before a lot of activity!

Don't forget, the cinema reopened under the previous owners. The new lot mean business - pretty much starting from scratch, with a lot of redevelopment which is why units have been left empty.

When the plans are published there should be a LOT of excitement in these parts.
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paul cardiffwalesmap

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 5:14 pm

Amoore wrote:Well, put it this way, I think the centre is less 'pleading to be saved' and more having a good rest before a lot of activity!

Don't forget, the cinema reopened under the previous owners. The new lot mean business - pretty much starting from scratch, with a lot of redevelopment which is why units have been left empty.

When the plans are published there should be a LOT of excitement in these parts.


Well reading between the lines, predicting there will be a LOT of excitement in these parts - I'm thinking something pretty tall may be planned for the site. Mind you wasn't the whole mention of a tower started here when last discussed, so perhaps exciting without a tall building (is that an oxymoron :lol: ) Anyway if it's a tower I'm going for 115metres+ and some kind of public observation to extend the centre into the sky. Any idea when plans will be released? I'm intrigued to find out how wide of the mark I am!!
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paul cardiffwalesmap

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 5:34 pm

Just to correct myself - the tower was very much mentioned before :oops: - this was how this thread opened...

NewRiver Retail is to meet City of Cardiff Council later this month to discuss plans for a tower on top of the Capitol shopping centre.

Retail asset manager NewRiver has drawn up plans for a 30-storey tower that would accommodate flats, student accommodation and a hotel above the 165,000 sq ft centre on the corner of Queen Street and Charles Street in Cardiff city centre.

NewRiver bought Capitol from the Moorfield Group in January in the knowledge that it was a centre with problems that were only getting worse.

Although the acquisition was part of a three-centre, £92.3m deal, it is believed to have cost only £22m - a price reflective of vacancies on both its two levels.

Capitol’s fate was sealed last year when H&M, the anchor tenant, trading on both levels, chose not to renew its lease. Instead, H&M consolidated its presence in Cardiff in November with its largest UK store, opening a 46,000 sq ft unit in St David’s shopping centre, half a mile west down Queen Street.

“When we bought Capitol, H&M weren’t in occupation,” says Charles Spooner, a NewRiver director.

“In fact, most of the fashion has gone down to the other end of town to St David’s. I’m glad that we have got the level of voids that we have. If the tenants were still in place, we wouldn’t have the same opportunities.”

Austin Reed has left the centre, as has Jaeger, which now relies on sales from a John Lewis concession in St David’s.

Spooner says the east end of Queen Street, which is close to many of the Cardiff University buildings, has a real buzz to it created by the student population.

And as a result, the Capitol centre has become a hub for convenience. Poundworld is three years into a 10-year lease in a shop once occupied by the failed retailer Internacionale, while easyGym occupies part of the upper level.

Next month brings the first anniversary of the reopening of Capitol’s cinema, after the Odeon vacated in 2001. Premiere Cinemas, a US company that operates cinemas in shopping centres, charges only £4 a ticket. This, says Spooner, is having an effect on Cardiff’s other cinemas.

Generally, though, Capitol has been unlucky with its tenants since Guardian Royal Exchange Properties developed and opened it in 1990. An original tenant, Virgin Megastore, later to be renamed Zavvi, the music retailer, ceased trading in 2009.

When NewRiver submits its planning application in the autumn, it will also include plans for a new entrance and a proposal to turn many of the shops that are currently empty into restaurants.
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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 7:14 pm

Demolish the lot, rebuild without going rediculously high and stick a load of residebtial over a ground floor of retail along the perimeter only. That's what I'd like to see. Retail is doomed.

I'd be surprised if the Churchill way feeder got uncovered but if that's true that is excellent news.
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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostFri Jan 06, 2017 9:32 pm

Amoore wrote:Some exciting developments on this coming over the next few weeks, possibly sooner. There's a rumour going around that the plans include opening up the canal feeder on Churchill Way.


I'd like to see more of the canals opened up but I'd be very surprised if that happens. I doubt that the canal is within the boundary of the Capitol site/property, so I would imagine that the Council would have to consent as they probably own the land. Why would they want to do this?

Firstly, it's creating a risk in this current risk-adverse environment. Who knows, some stupid sod may get drunk, fall in and drown and then the Council gets sued by the family because they created an unsafe environment or something along those lines. These days we need to blame someone so that we don't have to take responsibiltiy for ourselves!

Secondly, how far along Church Hill way would it be opened? If it's more than just a little pond then surely that affects the buses along Church Hill Way?

As I said, if done well it could bring something different to that part of the city centre. Currently it's a bit bland! But I'm glad that this site is going to be developed.
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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostSat Jan 07, 2017 11:52 am

paul cardiffwalesmap wrote:Well reading between the lines, predicting there will be a LOT of excitement in these parts - I'm thinking something pretty tall may be planned for the site. Mind you wasn't the whole mention of a tower started here when last discussed, so perhaps exciting without a tall building (is that an oxymoron :lol: ) Anyway if it's a tower I'm going for 115metres+ and some kind of public observation to extend the centre into the sky. Any idea when plans will be released? I'm intrigued to find out how wide of the mark I am!!


There will be a tower but it will more more... realistic.

In terms of excitement, think more along the lines of the much needed conversion of the centre to a leisure focused development, along with the aforementioned opening of Churchill Way feeder (from Queen Street to North Edward Street).

New leisure tenant due to be announced - you might not be too bowled away as it's been long rumoured.

I'd like to see more of the canals opened up but I'd be very surprised if that happens. I doubt that the canal is within the boundary of the Capitol site/property, so I would imagine that the Council would have to consent as they probably own the land. Why would they want to do this?


It's not unusual for a local authority to agree to planning permission providing the developer expands their plans to improve the surrounding areas. ;)
Last edited by Amoore on Sat Jan 07, 2017 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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paul cardiffwalesmap

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Re: 30-storey tower proposed for Capitol Centre

PostSat Jan 07, 2017 11:53 am

Surely The Capitol Centre must be considered to be very well located, hence the ambitious plans (although we don't know them yet!) - Isn't Queen Street the busiest retail street in Wales and isn't Queen St station the 2nd busiest - the footfall is there, but at the moment that footfall just walks past!!, it sounds like the forward thinking new owners have plans to Capitalise (pardon the pun) on a great location. Maybe next week we'll find out :?:
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