Plans submitted for development of Debenhams

Date: 21 Apr 2008

Leading property developer, Land Securities who successfully delivered the award winning Princesshay shopping quarter, has today announced that development plans for the former Debenhams building, located on Sidwell Street in Exeter, have been submitted to the City Council.

Consent has been sought for a ‘change of use’ to the landmark building, developing the upper parts of the structure to accommodate residential apartments while the basement, lower ground and ground floors are proposed for retail and catering use. The new scheme would provide 50,000sqft of commercial floor space and 96 residential apartments, creating a mixed used design that would further benefit the whole city.

Detailed consultation has taken place with both Exeter City Council and English Heritage to ensure that the plans for the new-look building satisfy the needs of the community. These meetings ruled out demolishing the building due to the environmental impact and research also concluded that the provision of a swimming pool or theatre within a refurbished building was impractical and unviable.

Subsequently, discussions have been held with the highly acclaimed Urban Splash who plan to partner Land Securities and Exeter City Council in delivering the residential element.

Jason Collard, Managing Director of Urban Splash in the South West said, “We’re really excited to be involved in exploring opportunities for the future of such a landmark building in Exeter and will be continuing our discussions with both Land Securities and Exeter City Council.”
More see over…

Since Debenhams was vacated in September 2007 a full and comprehensive structural survey of the building has been undertaken to ensure that the new plans for the building are feasible.

Nick Davis, Retail Development Director for Land Securities said, “We’re really proud of the redevelopment of Princesshay in Exeter and want to be able to deliver another high quality scheme for the city. We’ve recently started working closely on Debenhams with Exeter City Council and are very pleased to have the involvement of Urban Splash who specialise in regeneration and have delivered an incredible portfolio of city centre residential spaces.”

Work on the building is scheduled to start early in 2009 with completion taking place in early 2012.

Councilor Peter Edwards, Leader of Exeter City Council said, “The former Debenhams building is a well known landmark for the city of Exeter and it’s great that plans are being explored to give it a new lease of life. We are keen to see a re-modelled building that can deliver a significant amount of city centre residential accommodation, a quarter of which will be affordable housing for local residents.”