12 December, 2007
THE MALL SUBMITS £150 MILLION REGENERATION PLANS FOR THE RETAIL HEART OF LUTON
- The Mall Luton set to become one of UK's largest shopping centres -
The Mall - the UK's leading community shopping centre brand - has submitted an outline planning application to Luton Borough Council for £150m proposals to improve and extend The Mall Luton.
If the plans are approved, the development will provide around 37,000 sq m (400,000 sq ft) of new retail space that will see the The Mall Luton total over 1.2m sq ft on completion, becoming one of the largest shopping centres in the UK.
The extension will create large modern shop units to attract prestigious new retailers, improve the appearance of The Mall and its relationship to the town centre through high quality architecture and urban design, and integrate The Mall with other key regeneration initiatives in Luton.
The proposals will give the shopping centre a more vibrant, open and inviting frontage and extend the town's prime shopping area towards the railway station to integrate with the council's proposed Luton Gateway regeneration scheme. The Luton Gateway is a primary development focus for Luton Borough Council that will provide a new bus station and release land to facilitate the delivery of the Luton-Dunstable Busway interchange and the completion of the town's inner ring road.
Luton Gateway is intended to provide a high quality arrival point for Luton that sets the standard for the rest of the town, with modern, safe and easy to use public transport facilities and enhanced pedestrian links to the rest of the town centre. The new frontage to The Mall Luton will connect to the Gateway site and an attractive range of shops, restaurants and cafés wrapping around the exterior of the Mall will provide a pedestrian friendly experience from people's arrival in the town until they are inside the shopping centre.
In addition to the retail space, the redevelopment of The Mall will also provide 1,000 sq m (10,760 sq ft) of office space, 124 flats, and modern parking facilities, 24-hour access through The Mall to George Street and St George's Square and significant new areas of public realm, including a new public square.
Kenneth Ford, Chief Executive of The Mall, commented:
"Having purchased The Mall Luton in 2006 we have been working extremely hard with Luton Borough Council to look at how we might best improve the relationship of the centre to the rest of the town and to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible shopping experience for the people of Luton. Following extensive consultation, we believe our proposals offer the best solution for Luton, providing a larger, brighter and more modern shopping environment where retailers will want to take space and shoppers will want to spend time.
"This is an extremely exciting time for Luton given the many other development proposals that are in the pipeline but we appreciate that any redevelopment of The Mall Luton is crucial to the future growth and regeneration of the town centre core. This is a unique opportunity to work alongside the major stakeholders in Luton to ensure that the shopping centre itself and the public areas around it are improved in order to continue to attract people to live, work and sped their leisure time in Luton."
Colin Chick, Luton Borough Council's Corporate Director of Environment and Regeneration, said:
"The Mall's proposals make an exciting contribution towards creating a truly 21st Century retail heart for Luton. Subject to planning permission, the council looks forward to working with The Mall in maximising the benefits of the proposed redevelopment and the linkage between The Mall's plans and other key town centre development initiatives"
The Mall are also pleased to announce that TK Maxx have this week agreed to become the anchor store for the St George's Square development at The Mall Luton, taking a new 38,000 sq ft store.
The St George's Square development was granted planning permission by Luton Borough Council earlier this year and will remodel the St George's Square end of the centre. The £20 million redevelopment will provide over 75,000 sq ft of high quality new shopping, with cafés and restaurants at ground level opening onto the recently redeveloped square.
Construction is expected to get underway on the St George's Square element of the scheme in early 2008 with completion planned for Autumn 2009.
12 December 2007
-ENDS-
For further information regarding The Mall please contact:
Paul Haines/Jayne Clarke
Redwood Consulting - 020 7828 5553
Sharon Malley/John Mills
PPS Group on 0800 731 6318
Notes to Editor:
About The Mall
The Mall is the leading owner and operator of community shopping centres in the UK. The Mall currently has assets of c. £3 billion in 23 shopping centres, establishing The Mall as the UK's community shopping centre brand. The Mall Fund is a specialist property fund managed by Capital & Regional and Morley Fund Management.
Shopping as it should be
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