Lawyers from the Hugh James Commercial Property team have been advising Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council on the purchase of the town’s indoor shopping centre – which will play a major role in the authority’s 15-year town centre ‘Masterplan’.
The Council has purchased St Tydfil Shopping Centre from German property investment company Patrizia. The semi-covered pedestrian site contains more than 50 shops, including national retailers and independent businesses. It also has an upstairs indoor market with more than 30 stalls.
Under the Masterplan, the Council has set a strategy for the town centre to have high quality residential, office, leisure and retail, new plazas, green spaces and ‘an active riverside’ by 2035. It says the aim is to create a centre ‘with inviting streets, squares and routes, where people feel safe, welcomed and uplifted’.
Hugh James was instructed by the Council to provide support in relation to the property and employment aspects of the acquisition, led by Partners, Richard Macphail and Louise Price respectively.
Speaking of the project, Richard Macphail, Commercial Property Partner and Head of the Social Housing team, said today:
“The purchase of the town’s indoor shopping centre is of strategic importance to Merthyr Tydfil Council and it’s a regeneration project we’re delighted to advise on. We’re thrilled to support initiatives that plan for the long term and that build vibrant places for people to live, work and play. This is an exciting step forward for Merthyr and look forward to seeing it take shape.”
Commenting on the purchase, Merthyr Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Transformation and Commercialisation, Cllr Geraint Thomas, said:
“It’s in the heart of the town centre, between the new and old bus station sites, both of which are also owned by the Council. Having the combined sites offers considerable future potential for redevelopment and is central to regeneration plans for the whole town centre.
Ownership of the shopping centre significantly enhances potential options to better Merthyr Tydfil and improve the urban fabric of the town centre, across many sectors,” Cllr Thomas added.
In the short term we’ll continue to work closely with existing tenants, while also working with partners and the community to develop regeneration plans for the future.”