Plymouth’s huge and soon to be vacant Debenhams store is likely to be broken up to provide space for a range of shops and non-retail businesses, a leading expert says.
Joanne High, head of the Plymouth agency for leading property consultants Vickery Holman, said the vast British Land-owned block, in the heart of the city centre, will become a “mixed use” location with small units on the ground floor and flats or even hot-desk office space up above.
Already the former BHS and Derrys department stores, in Plymouth city centre, have been split up in this fashion.
And those ground-floor units in the former Debenhams store may not even become traditional shops or cafes, with planning laws now allowing for a shift to such uses as medical clinics, nurseries and for leisure pursuits such as bowling alleys or other indoor sports. It could even include locally-run independents.
Mrs High said such a transformation could inject vitality into the city centre and said: “We could see any number of different uses there from retail, office, café/restaurant, clinics, nurseries and leisure uses.
“The upper parts would be ideal for residential to bring more people into the city centre, which it has long been recognised as needing. It could also be a good place for a serviced office scheme. I think it will end up being a mixed use scheme, which would really benefit Plymouth and revitalise the city centre.”
Plymouth’s Debenhams was slated for closures along with all the chain’s other outlets when the company went in to administration in 2020. It will reopen briefly on April 12 for a fire sale of goods with all Debenhams branches shutting for good from May 2.
After that date British Land will have to decide what to do with the site and Mrs High said: “It obviously forms part of the block that is owned by British Land who were talking about a redevelopment of that whole block in conjunction with Plymouth City Council before the pandemic.
“I expect they will still want to progress with that given their half-year statement in November highlighted ‘realising the potential of mixed use’ as one of the four strategic aims for the business.
“With Debenhams having gone, and the relocation of Nando’s on Old Town Street it means there are a number of voids now in that block.
“Coupled with their (British Land’s) investment in Plymouth, they will want to do everything they can to revitalise the city centre, and arguably they are well placed at the northern end of town to do that.
“Debenhams is uniquely located on the end of the block, meaning there is much more flexibility for splitting the ground floor space into smaller units.
“If they can make the units small enough so that they are affordable for local tenants, then that would be a great way to get a better mix of locals and nationals into the city centre.”
Zach Maiden, senior surveyor in Vickery Holman’s Exeter office, said that whilst such department store buildings have become a feature of town and city centres “we would argue that they are completely obsolete in their economic purpose”.
“Such large buildings have caused a concern about their future use but we believe there is an opportunity to simply reposition them towards other uses,” he said.
“We can see a new co-working trend which is office/residential within the same building and this is likely to stimulate the economy as people live, work and shop in their vicinity which in turn would also boost leisure and nightlife.
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“Leisure could prove a winner for these asset classes due to such occupiers suddenly gaining an opportunity to occupy a large open space in a central location which of course would increase excitement and intrigue in our town and city centres.”
He said the new Class E uses for property, which came in during 2020 and allow transference of uses under permitted development rules, will have “a very positive effect” on the retail market and in particular larger vacant space.
“This use provides us with an opportunity to reposition retail and enhance the consumer experience in city and town centres,” Mr Maiden said. “The E-use will effectively relax restrictive measures on
alternative uses which we believe to provide an opportunity to invigorate the high street and create a sense of intrigue and identity in a town/city.
“Overall the new E-use will benefit landlords in the marketing campaign because it shall ensure a particular asset falling under this category will be easier to let and therefore retain value from the income produced. It also gives us an opportunity to reinvent our towns and boost footfall in the area.”
