Planning applications set to transform leisure at Frenchgate
22/12/2014
The collision of technological disruption, rapid emerging-markets growth, and widespread aging is upending long-held assumptions that underpin strategy setting, decision making, and management.
Frenchgate Partnership has submitted three planning applications for a new hotel, gym, cinema and restaurant quarter at the Doncaster centre.
Frenchgate shopping centre is currently the subject of a significant £10m investment programme which has seen several new retail and F&B lettings and reconfigurations throughout the centre. If the new applications are approved, the centre’s total area of retail, leisure and food would rise to circa 850,000 sq ft.
The hotel application centres on the change of office use (B1) to hotel (C1) of a 5-storey block above the shopping centre. The hotel will provide 56 en-suite rooms to the upper four floors, with conferencing, bar and reception facilities beneath and will benefit from the centre’s existing 1,200 parking spaces. The development is likely to target hotels who do not have representation in the area.
The second planning application is to introduce a new 8-screen multiplex cinema with 1,100 seats to the scheme, boosting its leisure credentials. As part of the cinema application four new restaurant units are also being proposed, providing units between 3,500 sq ft and 4,300 sq ft.
And the third application is for a new cicra 20,000 sq ft gym. The Frenchgate Partnership has been working closely with gym operator Lifestyle Fitness, agreeing terms to open at the centre.
Paul Devlin, asset manager at the Partnership, said: "Frenchgate has made significant progress with its plans during 2014, notably attracting a raft of new and exciting tenants such as Schuh, Pandora, Hungry Horse and Lifestyle Fitness gym. We’ve also worked closely with key retailers to move them to improved locations around the scheme, such as New Look and Timberland. We intend to build strongly on this success - and these three new leisure applications will allow us to respond to strong demand from the growing regional, local and student population. Our ambition is to provide a complete shopping and leisure destination for the area, coupled with unrivalled accessibility and customer experience – and this week’s news is a major step towards delivering this.”
Frenchgate Doncaster is managed by Lambert Smith Hampton (Northern Ireland office) with retail leasing by joint agents Lunson Mitchenall and Rawstron Johnson.
Fonte:http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/7800/Planning_applications_set_to_transform_leisure_at_Frenchgate.html