Current wave of UK shopping centre development took ‘100 years to deliver’

The current wave of shopping centre development which will open this year and in 2017 has taken a total of more than 100 years to bring from first planning application through to delivery.

Colliers International has analysed the ‘gestation period’ of 13 developments (below) of 100,000 sq ft+ and shopping centre extensions of more than 50,000 sq ft that are set to launch before the end of next year.

It has calculated that – from the date of each initial planning application – the new developments have taken, on average, around 11 years to come to fruition while the centre extensions will average four years from start to finish. The schemes comprise more than 3.7m sq ft of shopping space.

Four of the 13 developments monitored were in the Yorkshire region, including: the £165 million Victoria Gate development in Leeds; the £100 million redevelopment of The Moor retail and leisure scheme in Sheffield; north Sheffield’s £50 million new Fox Valley development; and, the 65,000 sq ft leisure extension to White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds.

Greg Styles, Head of Retail Development for Colliers International, based in Leeds, comments: “The figures illustrate what a brake was put on shopping centre development during the recession and also how complex it is to bring projects to completion.

“In this context, although there are a substantial number of schemes with existing planning consents, many will not be built for the foreseeable future. This has got to be good for the equilibrium of the sector. The impact of online retailing and the curtailed expansion plans of retailers mean that shopping centres now occupy a new place in the shopping scene.

“The current schemes being delivered have been painstakingly conceived and their positive leasing progress is showing that they are aligned with the needs of the 21st century shopper.”

The study coincides with this week’s British Council of Shopping Centres conference in Manchester.