Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:52 am
This took me rather by surprise - when I first saw the headline I thought it was a plan for the Capitol centre site (news on which has gone completely quiet - I guess COVID-19 put paid to any short-term demand for more restaurant and leisure space!).
Physical retail is not dead - but it is shrinking and changing. Major city centres (and small local towns) are likely to occupancy hold up better than mid-size towns, as they can draw in enough people and support enough outlets to still be "destinations", especially when combined with hospitality and leisure offerings. Landlords will probably have to get used to lower rents in all but the very best pitches though (by that I mean places like Bond Street, Regent St, and perhaps a few very touristy places).
So I'd see this as part of the evolution of retail in Cardiff. It still has a place - albeit a smaller one. The economics now not only favour but probably require non-retail space (residential, small office suites, hotels) to make things viable.
A few things will be important to get right with the new streets. First is what will become a new external entrance to St Davids - it needs to be prominent enough that this development doesn't harm the viability of the old part of St Davids, but not completely dominate the new streetscape. Second is the centre of this new development, where the street turns. I think it should be quite angular, and a mini "square" would be nice, perhaps with a glass roof. Third is the building materials. The buildings on either side of the two entrances are in such different styles it will be hard to get anything approaching a consistent style. So I think it will look best to actually go for something that looks a bit of a hotch-potch - which can be hard to do well and avoid looking like a pastiche of "fake" organic development.