By John Newton, Partner, Tuffin Ferraby Taylor
Predicated to be one of the fastest growing urban areas in the UK over the next 20 years, Cardiff is a vibrant city whose capital status in Wales makes it both an administrative hub and tourist destination of choice. Having historically struggled to deliver the pace of economic growth seen in similar cities in the UK it is in a period of sustained development and is attracting a young high skilled millennial work force into an affordable city with a high-quality working and leisure environment.
Cardiff’s central retail offering increased by circa 40% with the development of St Davids II shopping centre, a destination of choice for shoppers throughout the region. Now Central Square is providing circa 1m sq ft of grade A office space in a highly accessible location alongside the central railway station. Furthermore, the city’s Capital Quarter development will provide an additional 1m sq ft of mixed use space once fully complete.
Backed by strong local and regional universities, the technology and media business sectors are thriving including a new BBC headquarters building and the Gloworks creative industries centre within the Porth Teigr waterfront development, whilst Aston Martin are currently in phase II of a new manufacturing plant in St Athan.
Future plans in the pipeline include the 3.0m sqft mixed use redevelopment of the Brains Brewery Site as part of the Central Quay development, and the construction of a new 15,000 seater arena in the bay. The Central Quay and Arena developments are seen by the city authorities as key to further raising its profile, both domestically and internationally, and providing a much needed influx of visitors who will sustain both its ambitious transport plans and existing leisure attractions.
The surge in development activity within the city is seen as key to its ambition of being a major UK capital and European destination. Recent successful hosting of major events, including the Champions League Final and Nato Conference have raised the city’s international profile well above both its regional and national competitors, which has been key to the city’s success in increasing foreign investment into the region. The continued delivery of high quality commercial, residential, leisure, educational and infrastructure developments are key, not only in attracting this new investment, but also retaining the city’s existing major prestige occupiers, including the FTSE listed Admiral, the BBC and HMRC, all of whom have made significant commitments to the capital in recent years.
This rapid growth in office, retail and leisure industries will undoubtedly place demands on infrastructure in and around the city, and significant investment in key areas will be needed to ensure Cardiff keeps pace and continues to attract and maintain new business and a highly skilled workforce.
A recently approved Local Development Plan (LPD) will see the development of approximately 40,000 new homes in Cardiff and surrounding areas, which will be the city’s biggest expansion in a generation. Construction is already well underway, providing a range of tenures for differing demographic needs and incomes.
Substantial improvements to transport are also in the pipeline, with both the electrification of the mainline linking south Wales to London, and the development of a Metroline network which will reduce commuter times and increase productivity throughout the area.
Finally, the introduction the new Superfast Cymru programme, provides parts of Wales with access to next-generation broadband, and ambitious plans for a successor scheme are already afoot, which will extend the provision of fast, reliable broadband to the whole of Wales.
Whilst other UK cities are seeing limited investment in these key areas, Cardiff’s plans to improve its accessibility and affordability for businesses and residents alike, that will ensure that it continues to thrive and place itself ahead of its competitors, fulfilling its potential to become one of the most dynamic and exciting places to live and work in the UK.