Two brilliant #placemaking case studies.

The Oxford Road Stories. Hat District.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Thank you Reading, Luton.

Often on these threads we talk about arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, history, heritage as part of the ‘next steps’ narrative for town & city centres tackling #highstreet empty shops issues with #TheVacantShopsAcademy, as potential use type options to fill target vacant units, and as crucial to improving perception of and pride in place…

💡 …so it was inspirational to be able to share a platform at this week’s Heritage Trust Network event with Donna Pentelow and Marie Kirbyshaw as they described those two initiatives.

I believe council, #BID, civic society and other local teams working on this issue will find much to learn from.

🎨 The art of the possible it was, literally, and really helpful to follow with my outline of our ‘audit, engage’ approach, emphasising the importance as a strategic first step of getting the backstory and understanding the barriers to let of vacant units in your place.

What these two illustrate are some of the very practical ways places can play a part in overcoming those barriers, the importance of #community involvement, and how a range of ‘look’ improvements can help too.

🗣️ Do check them out, and please share your stories of projects that are strengthening the vitality of individual streets and bringing landmark buildings back into play…!

🤔 What do you think…?

Rarely a week goes by it seems without some ‘analyst’ or other trying to secure themselves media coverage with a cheap ‘death of the…’ shot at the #highstreet.

This week was no exception…and the ‘study’ was, as ever, littered with nonsense.

📸 I’m lucky enough to have #Oxford city centre nearby and a trip in is always rewarded with insights. Even just as an observer now, not running ‘audit, engage’ as we did here in city centre manager days.

By chance, it had actually been one of the places to feature in this week’s gloomster output mentioned above, but out & about, in just one small section, you can see the reality and themes we’re exploring for #TheVacantShopsAcademy locations…

• #hospitality moving into a building it now shares with #health services;
  🧀 three #indie businesses in a landlord-split space that was once occupied by a national #retail brand;
• upper floors converted, in this case, to hotel use;
  🧑🏻‍💻 re-purposed workspace being readied;
• and more new openings ahead.

It’s challenging here as in all our town and city centres. We’ve all work to do. The balance of what’s possible varies but…

Definitely.

EvolvingNotDying

🗣️ Do you think…?

…to have the opportunity to be starting work with two special towns.

🤳🏽 Running the ‘audit, engage’ phase of our #TheVacantShopsAcademy approach in Abertillery and Tredegar for Blaenau Gwent Council, but reflections on a first visit were about the strengths that this focus on the #highstreet of each has to draw on.

🎞️ Awesome, must-visit settings, striking #heritage buildings, a visibly strong sense of community, and for one town, a unique place in our collective history.

Both have challenges for sure as do all the places we’ve been commissioned in, but we’re really looking forward to heading back soon and bringing together agents, landlords, businesses, community and council in the place partnerships that we know get the job done quickest and most sustainably.

🤔 For #property and #placemaking colleagues who know one or both towns it’d be great to hear from you…!

This brings back memories.

🪜Just 10 years ago when our sign went up over the #popupshop which was to play a significant part in the revival of a street and with it the whole town centre.

📉 Flashop Wantage, the community space which soon opened opposite and a second pop up across town together helped create the momentum that saw the number of vacant units there drop from 23 to 3 in 18 months.

Our subsequent tackling #highstreet empty shops issues projects in neighbouring towns all had at least one pop up as part of their story too.

💡…and this week we’ve been talking to #TheVacantShopsAcademy locations about how the model would work now:

• To occupy currently empty units;
• Give target businesses a chance to make a start, test their idea for real and build the track record and confidence they need to go on and secure a unit of their own longer term;
• And importantly to create the momentum that takes others from empty to let in the weeks and months ahead.

🔑 Back in 2013 there were a limited number of case studies to draw on, now there are many, like there are questions:

• How many units should you have…?
• Who takes the lease…?
• What should rent levels be set at…?
• Should it go to one business or several…?
• Is it best run under a single brand or those of its occupiers…?
• Which types of business do you target (or rule out)…?

And more.

Ten years on we’re still convinced it can be a key element of an ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach.

🤔 What – #property and #placemaking colleagues – do you think…?

“Together, as a community, we can…”

“…we want to brighten the street, fill the units, use the space, tell the stories which lie behind our famous granite walls, and fully engage the people of Aberdeen in this urban revival. And we are already taking steps to meet these objectives.”

👏🏻 Great to read the latest update from the team at Our Union Street in Aberdeen.

It’s a really interesting and current case study of working together in a place, and one I’m sure others are following for potential lessons they can draw.

Aberdeen is an awesome city and I was very pleased to have been able to play a small part in the early stages of this journey to restore Union Street to being its strong and sustainable heart.

I learned a huge amount and continue to do so.

💡 Engagement with and in Our Union Street has been extraordinary, as the update reflects: “Since we launched in March, the public response has been overwhelming, with over 10,000 ideas submitted to our team. Those 10,000 ideas became 17 themes – and, today, those themes have become five action areas that we will spend the next few years delivering against.”

Here’s wishing all those involved the very best going forward…!

🤔 It’d be interesting to hear from #highstreet #placemaking colleagues with similar initiatives underway where tackling vacancy is a significant issue…?

📸 And from one memorable visit with Aberdeen Inspired a year ago now…

It’s happened again.

📉 Third time in recent weeks we’ve shared the ‘audit, engage’ data for one of our #TheVacantShopsAcademy locations and shown a different picture emerging than the one from our first walk-see there.

The number of #highstreet units in this location listed as ‘empty and available’ is one third lower than the original headline vacant figure.

🤳🏽 Just to explain. We log all units that appear vacant then check their status with #property agents and landlords to see if they’ve let, are ‘under offer’ or aren’t proactively being marketed because they’re refurb or development sites.

Of course the figures include some units that looked vacant and actually weren’t – but that in itself is a lesson about the robustness of data based just on observation. They tell a more complex story, but there are positives in the mix.

Interest. Investment. New openings.

🔑 Of course it’s challenging still and there’s work to do, but what’s encouraging is that here, as in the other two locations, the majority of the units we’re talking about have let in recent months, with #hospitality (mostly in this case) and #retail among the uses.

It emphasises again why we believe so strongly in places – whether that be council or BID or the two together – taking charge of their own vacancy numbers and not relying for policy and project decisions on the national narrative.

🤔 Do contact us if empty shops are an issue in your place…?

📸 Meantime, took a break from the desk to check what’s happening in Oxford, just as an observer these days. And tho we’re not 💯 across the back story of these units as we were in city centre management, there do look to be some positive signs here also…!

… or at least create more spaces for them.🛍️

And do we need re-adjust the regulations to help #retail…?

No wait. Before you start to wonder if I’ve had too much of the holiday rum & raisin ice cream🍦

The questions are sparked by a series of comments from #property and #placemaking colleagues which I’ve weaved into a narrative, so thank you to all of them for the inspiration. I have tho taken out location mentions to focus just on the message, but it’s important to emphasise the potential case being made here only applies to some places, not everywhere.

First…

🔑 “One challenge is that we do really have enough #hospitality venues now, so there’s a need to try and encourage actual shops – which can be hard in a small but expensive city…creating affordable units in suitable sizes is key.”

We “need to try and encourage actual shops”, and it’s not the only time I’ve heard that this week.

But why…? Here’s a retailer’s agent perspective…

💷 “F&B brands paying high rents and offering a long term commitment etc. We can’t get anywhere near what these guys offer.”

And that’s backed up by two more comments, one that suggests part of the issue is the change of use class regulation which tipped shops into a much bigger group of use types than before…

🍟 “The past couple of years have seen significant demand from QSR (quick service restaurant) operators for prime High Streets, following changes to planning rules in 2020, whereby they can acquire units previously unattainable under the old use classes.”

So partly regulation, but maybe also this helps explain the lesser share going to new shops…

⚖️ “I think it’s more we are not really seeing the enquiries. Perhaps the demand isn’t there in all centres. In an ideal world a bit of balance would really help our centres thrive. Of course we don’t live in that ideal world.”

And if we are to try adjust that balance, here’s more on the how:

🧵“Businesses need to work with Councils, landlords and law makers to bring empty units back into use. Subdivision is going to be crucial in creating units of a size that independent businesses can and will be able to rent.”

Interesting, huh.

So back to the questions: Are there really brand and #indie retail businesses keen to get spaces that can’t…? Does that matter…? Is it just how competition works…? Or are policy change and an adjusted approach needed…? 🪜

🤔 It’d be great to hear what you think…!

“Our town has a third fewer vacancies than it did in the spring.”

“Wow. Actually, so has ours…!”

What about yours…? 🤔

Just two towns reflecting on how the numbers have changed between the dates of our #TheVacantShopsAcademy walk-see in late spring and a summer return visit.

Here are those numbers.

🧮 “11 of the initial ‘35’ (18.4%) visibly vacant are now listed as let, 4 more as ‘under offer’ and one other not currently being marketed due to landlord development or refurb works.”

📉”10 of the initial ‘29’ (16.3%) visibly vacant are now listed as let, 2 more as ‘under offer’ and a further 4 not currently being marketed due to landlord development or refurb works.”

As I say just two towns – but this is not the first time we’ve seen a very different picture after the ‘audit, engage’ stage of our approach to tackling #highstreet empty shops issues.

🔮 And it changes things. With a vacancy rate approaching 20% you might be thinking demolish, re-purpose, convert to resi, or worrying about more of your town centre’s traders leaving at lease expiry.

Instead the focus might be trying to add to the mix when it comes to #property lettings in the remaining empties, checking whether there’s un- and under used space on upper floors you could productively bring back, splitting larger units to better fit interest from #indie businesses, maybe even building new ones.

As I always say, it’s challenging, in some places especially so, but something’s happening somewhere. The numbers are telling us that…!

What do yours say…?

#placemaking friends had to endure a bit of a ranting me this week as (yet) another national ‘death of the #highstreet’ headline disrupted one of my timelines.

It was especially maddening because I read it while I was in Sunderland on what was an enjoyable, insightful and encouraging out & about for #TheVacantShopsAcademy.

What I found – and not for the first time on recent trips around – was new openings, fresh investment and promising pipelines along with, and really importantly, proactive place partnerships: good people, working hard, together, to make a difference.

🔦 I know, as one LinkedIn friend kindly put it in a call this week, that I’ve become a bit of a torchbearer for the positive…

…but I just cannot see how continually talking down our town and city centres and their prospects ever helps.

For sure it remains challenging out there, yes we need policy and regulations change, funding support and more capacity. But equally crucial is confidence and investment and glooming isn’t that, doesn’t help…!

Or is it just me…?

📸 Anyway, thank you Sunderland old and repurposed, new, upcoming and maybe next…!

🔑 New openings, fresh investment, promising pipeline.

I ask having been out & about for #TheVacantShopsAcademy in another location – the second in a few weeks – where the headline ‘visibly vacant’ number now looks very different having run ‘audit, engage’ with #property agents to establish the actual status and backstory of those units that had appeared empty when we visited in late spring.

We’ll crunch and share those numbers in the week, but as the images show, several of them have new #retail or #hospitality occupiers already open and more have readying work underway.

For sure things remain challenging. A major brand in administration is significant and on behalf of the towns that have them, their regular customers and, importantly, all their staff, we join #placemaking colleagues in hoping for a positive outcome.

But an out & about perception, and from one or two of our locations now the data also, is telling us something different may be happening, in some places.

🤔 Is that just me…? Are colleagues finding similar…? Do let us know…