The Capitol

Spoke with a friend who works in commercial property in the city centre who says Gravity Max is still going ahead, and in fact both Gravity and Capitol Arena will probably commence works simultaneously as there's some back of house facilities which need changing to accommodate both.

I do like the Capitol Arena logo emulating the old Capitol Theatre sign, which I think the shopping centre also did when it first opened.

Work has begun to strip out the Capitol Centre ready to create a single unit for Gravity Max, which is scheduled to open later this year.

Apparently there is interest in the other units from food operators spurred on by the signing of Gravity, so along with the Capitol Arena the centre could be about to make one of the biggest turnarounds in shopping centre history and become fully let.

This is apparently a visual of the Gravity Max entrance at the Capitol (the entrance opposite KFC, Sainsburys etc):

Goddamn. The Capitol centre be looking radically different! I'll be coming down from Manchester in a couple weeks so I'd be curious to see if any work has been done since the last time I visited

Except that's not The Capitol or Queen Street!

I think it's a bit of AI slop to be honest - it kind of fits the current frontage but not quite. If it looks anything like that though I'll be impressed.

They're advertising Gravity Max coming soon on the website now: https://capitolcardiff.co.uk/

I walked past it yesterday and the only sign that anything is happening is the closure of the entrance opposite Sainsbury's.

In general, the centre looks very badly maintained. There's moss and dirt all over the glass on the canopies, no effort is being made to make the empty store fronts look presentable (and most are empty), plus there are no Gravity Max vinyls.

Very poor management from the owners New River.

I walked past it yesterday and the only sign that anything is happening is the closure of the entrance opposite Sainsbury's.

In general, the centre looks very badly maintained. There's moss and dirt all over the glass on the canopies, no effort is being made to make the empty store fronts look presentable (and most are empty), plus there are no Gravity Max vinyls.

Very poor management from the owners New River.

Although, peeking through the door there is a lot of internal work going on, walls being demolished etc.

I guess the external hoarding will go up when it's time to do the external work, and not much point in powerwashing the canopies if there's going to be a lot of construction dust in the air, so I understand leaving that for now (although no excuse for leaving it so bad prior).

As far as the empty units go, as far as I understand it, most are going to be taken up with Gravity, with another unit forming a Queen Street entrance to the gym and car park.

I still think this and the Hollywood bowl thing happening at the same time is a bit odd. They seem to offer a very similar experience and I wonder if there's really the market for both? I guess Hollywood bowl have the advantage of being open first; next month I think.

I still think this and the Hollywood bowl thing happening at the same time is a bit odd. They seem to offer a very similar experience and I wonder if there's really the market for both? I guess Hollywood bowl have the advantage of being open first; next month I think.

There will be a lot of bowling provision in town with Roxy Lanes in Queen's West as well. Time will tell, but looking at the Gravity Max and Hollywood Bowl plans, there's a lot of overlap including both having indoor karting. Maybe there are enough punters to go around.