A row of unique city-centre buildings, empty for over 20 years, are set for a new lease of life with the opening of Cobden Terraces at a special launch event on Saturday 8 March.
Based at the top of Pelham Street in the fast regenerating Creative Quarter, all nine of the units have already been snapped up by tenants, before any official marketing of the project, to create a home to a fascinating mix of new and independent businesses.
The beautiful Victorian terraces are part of Cobden Chambers, which is made up of Cobden Place, a 9,000 sq foot department store due to open in summer 2014 and Cobden Terraces. Developed by Bildurn, The Terraces, offering 9 units over three floors, provide a unique space for independent businesses to design and sell their products. All of the units have been refurbished to offer a blank canvas for tenants but retaining original features and with the installation of key services such as wi-fi. And Nottingham’s own Nathan Bainbridge has contributed to the project with his unique street art – a wall mural that extends the length of the courtyard and which will change over time.
The units, which can be used for retail space, as workshops, as studios, or a combination of all three, will create a diverse shopping experience for visitors to Nottingham’s City Centre with some tenants producing and selling their work on the premises.
Sean Akins, Managing Director of Bildurn, commented: “We’ve been working on this project for just 7 months and are really excited to open Cobden Terraces. It’s rewarding to be able to bring empty space back into use and support small businesses in an area which is known for its creativity. Urban regeneration projects like these are designed to appeal to those businesses looking for a creative and collaborative space in which their business can grow and thrive.”
The terraces will open with an event on Saturday 8th March to encourage visitors and shoppers to discover and explore what’s on offer from Nottingham’s latest mini high street. This will range from quirky home accessories, to vintage and antique items, to boutique fashion and music. Food, refreshments and music on offer on the day will fuel and entertain the first to discover the new Cobden Terraces.
Hannah Crackett, Co-Founder of Babes in the Wood, who has taken one of the units at Cobden Terraces said: “We heard about Cobden Chambers through The Hive, Nottingham Trent University’s specialist centre for entrepreneurs. We love the design of our new space and it’s great to be based in a location with such a creative history. The site has a real urban edge with the artwork in the courtyard and we’re really looking forward to the opening.”
Three shops will be occupied by creative businesses which were set up through The Hive, Nottingham Trent University’s centre for enterprise and entrepreneurship. They are: mobile phone app company Wiseman Designs, fashion retailer Relm and lifestyle store Cavology. Sean Macaskill, enterprise advisor at The Hive, said: “The opening of Cobden Chambers is a really exciting prospect for Nottingham and we’re thrilled that businesses from The Hive are involved. It’s going to be a great way to showcase some of the city’s most creative, emerging talent and it will provide people in Nottingham with a unique and exciting place to shop.”
The opening event will take place on Saturday 8 March from 10am-4pm.
