The Vacant Shops Academy

So here’s a tricky balancing act…

…and (yet) another reason why having a positive, proactive, tackling #highstreet vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ can be a huge help in reducing empty unit numbers and importantly too, improving the mix of use types your town or city centre has.

The thought was sparked by seeing a commercial agent posting enthusiastically that they’d let a unit having had a number of offers and reached agreement with the successful occupant for more than the advertised rent.

From the agent perspective that’s a deal done. Fee earned. The landlord has a new tenant and a rent income above what they’d planned. All good. And the place has one fewer vacant unit.

So why the question…?

You might read what follows and think I’m asking too much, but here goes anyways…

How was the winner chosen. Purely on highest rent offer or was some account taken of what might suit the place best;

Who is the occupier. If presented with the full list of use types, might its residents and existing businesses have chosen differently;

It’s been settled for an increased rent which because of the way the system works might have a knock-on effect on existing businesses at lease renewal;

And what happened to the other interested parties. Is someone picking those up and trying to match them to the remaining empty units in that town or city centre…?

I’ve not said where this case occurred and haven’t asked any of those questions. It may well be the letting will be a great add to its mix.

My point is that having a ‘place partnership’ with agents, landlords, businesses, community, cultural organisations, council(s), chamber and BID if you have one working together on this might give you an outcome that better suits the place, its residents and existing businesses with bigger picture and / or longer term benefits for the agent or landlord too.

As I’m writing I can hear #property sector colleagues disagreeing, but it feels right to have the debate…

It’s 3 years this week since our first out & about on a tackling vacancy commission for The Vacant Shops Academy.

Thanks Cheltenham…!

In the time since we’ve taken our ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach to 36 locations, seen some great places, worked with brilliant place leaders and managers and learned a huge amount.

Thank you to everyone – agents, landlords, businesses, communities, cultural organisations, council colleagues, chamber and BID teams and many more.

We’ve started to see a number of those places take their headline vacancy rate down, some of them by significant chunks, and improve their mix of uses.

We’re seeing that having a ‘place partnership’ in play is fundamental and understanding more about how the other key elements: tackling vacancy grant or loan schemes, #popup shop or ‘meanwhile… use’ projects, and the rest make their impact.

That there’s a bigger role for arts & crafts, creative, cultural, community, history & heritage, leisure, education, health and health & wellbeing uses alongside #retail, #hospitality & services is ever clearer, and as more places facilitate and support examples that will only strengthen.

We’ve now the confidence to say to places up front that if they take on the approach they can aim to halve their headline vacancy rate in 18 months and improve that mix of uses. Some will do it faster.

Why wouldn’t you give it a try…?

If you’re on a tackling #highstreet vacancy journey in your town or city centre or are keen to, it would be great to hear from you.

We’ve just updated our guide and if you’d like a copy do please shout…

“…work together, deploy all the projects that apply to your place, not just one or two elements, and you will have an effective strategy to reduce vacancy and improve the local mix of uses.”

Updating our guide to tackling #highstreet vacancy and a chance to reflect on what’s changed in the year since we first drafted it.

If you’d like a copy do please shout.

Reading about and hearing from agents, landlords and town or city management teams grappling solo with the challenges around getting empty units back into play or even just to look better has strengthened our already solid belief in the importance of having a positive, proactive ‘place partnership’ on the case.

But we’ve also seen more examples of arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, history & heritage, leisure, education, health and health & wellbeing uses taking on space and making a positive difference. There is, we’d argue, much more to come from those ‘alternative’ or additional uses.

The third big thing has been Aberdeen – led by Aberdeen Inspired – getting its Union Street Upper Floors Project underway so extending its own successful partnership approach to another significant challenge, and even at this early stage looking to have developed a way forward that every place with this an issue can deploy.

If your place has a mid / high teens or over 20 per cent headline vacancy rate we’d love to explore how you can join the local teams already seeing theirs reduced…

Windows.

No. Not the PC operating systems thing. I’m the least technical person you know.

I mean the #highstreet shop front and upper floors type and why they can be important to tackling town and city centre vacancy.

Here’s how.

Whether that empty unit you’d like to let has enough window to be good for #retail…

Or as is often the case with ex-banks, there’s too much brick to make the building good for shops and we need think about other uses.

Are the windows attractive in style or shape and actually present as an asset to a new occupier.

And of course when they’re empty, there’s the negative impact on the look of your place if the glass is cracked or broken or littered with posters, and the opportunity to do something creative with vinyls or window-dressing to make them look better and increase your letting chances.

If you’re thinking about getting un- and under-used upper floors back into play – as we’re focusing on in an innovative project with Aberdeen Inspired along Union Street there – the windows can tell you much too.

Look up and get a sense of whether there’s a business or residential use on those floors or are there tell-tale signs of a vacancy with foliage growing out of them;

Are the windows heritage style and potentially an additional cost to get them right for a different use;

Will there be extra noise or heat insulation needed;

Is there a potential issue of being overlooked out of a taller neighbour property;

And back on the ground floor if you can only get upstairs currently via the shop, can you afford to take out some window frontage to create that crucial separate access…?

Just some examples but an illustration of why, tho we talk about location, size, condition, rent and rates as key factors in the chances of moving our empties forward, we maybe need think more about those windows.

Are you putting vinyls on empty units in your town or city centre.

It’d be great to hear experiences, positive or challenging.

We were asked by one of the locations we’re supporting on tackling #highstreet vacancy about the approach to some of their long-time empties.

So we’ve drafted a briefing based on projects we’ve seen or been involved with in case that’s helpful.

First thing we emphasised is that we see ‘vinyling’ as an option but one that’s down a priority list. Where possible we’d encourage the place to be looking to support agents and landlords to get a unit let, either long-term or initially on a short term, pop-up, ‘meanwhile… use’ basis.

‘Vinyling’ comes next i.e. where getting the unit back in play isn’t going to be possible for some time either because:

• there are development or refurbishment plans for it;
• there is a former tenant that left with term still in their lease and is still paying rent so that, though visibly vacant, the unit is technically occupied;
• it cannot be let for a time because the previous occupier went into administration and that process is still working through;
• the unit is in a poor way inside and significant works are required before it can be used again.

That then takes you to permissions, practicalities and potential conversations about planning, listed building status, advertising consent and business rates.

So it can be complex getting to a solution but waaaaay better for the place and neighbour businesses than leaving a unit looking less than its best, no…?

Hands up who has a unit or even a whole building in their town or city centre that’s been empty for five years.

Any for 10 years…? What about 20…?

It’s a question I asked attendees at an interactive workshop I was kindly invited to chair for Association of Town & City Management and their Summer School #SS25Bradford.

The focus was on the inspirational story of the city’s Bradford Live venue. Do look it up if it’s one you’ve not heard.

It’s a building that – through a number of entertainment uses down the years – holds a place in the hearts and memories of generations but had found itself shut, near derelict and for those looking on, dispiriting.

Now just opening up again, it’s ready to create new memories…

…and from a starting point of three friends going to look it over, through council involvement and investment, a stunning but careful makeover, overcoming a number of setbacks, to today with a specialist operator getting it set to go, it’s a quite a journey.

Importantly for our work with local teams on tackling #highstreet vacancy, it’s a case study of how crucial the ‘place partnership’ approach can be to bringing these empty units and buildings back into play…

…and hopefully it will encourage you to don a hard hat, get the keys, maybe a torch, and take a local team inside your long-time empty units, work out the use options, the barriers and how they can be overcome, and which of the partners needs step up to make that happen.

It’s a brilliant city centre…

…so enjoyed our time in Bradford for the Association of Town & City Management’s sunny Summer School #SS25Bradford, with place leaders and managers from around the country.

A huge amount happening, more in the pipeline. Awesome heritage buildings, transformative public realm projects delivering an extended pedestrianised area, fountain-filled Mirror Pool, city park, imaginative landscaping and striking #streetart, a new market imminent, empty units re-purposing, office space additions and the inspirational Bradford Live story (which we’ll return to in a future post) and more besides.

What did I forget…?

It’s so valuable at these #placemaking events to have time allocated to walk-see and hear something of the back story from those involved.

I feel like we were lucky to be there at this snapshot in time but also am really keen to stop by again sometime to see how the almost ready to go initiatives progress and how city centre living, upper floors focus, adjusts to the #retail and #hospitality mix, maybe including ‘additional’ uses on our list that runs from arts & crafts, creative and culture to health & wellbeing, become a bigger part of that story.

Thank you Bradford…!

Looking ahead to an exciting week in the conversation about how much of a role arts & crafts, creative, culture can play in our town and city centres…

…in lots of ways, but in particular for our focus on tackling #highstreet vacancy.

A big part of that is the Association of Town & City Management Summer School themed around ‘How to Maximise Our Cultural and Community Assets’, featuring a range of presentations on the contribution to our places of art, music, storytelling and more. Among the sessions, one I’m very much looking forward to chairing called ‘Bradford Live: Bringing a Long Lost Cultural Asset Back to Life.’

I’ve also just written an introduction for another project we’re hoping to be involved in which maybe sums up how important I see this theme being in #placemaking…

“That arts & crafts, creative, culture and community uses can play a bigger part in our town and city centres is something I think has been a strong element of our tackling vacancy work in towns and city centres since we started to do this 12 year ago.

“We now have a range of examples – some we’ve been involved with, others we’ve seen – which I think can help encourage more individuals and organisations to consider setting up something in their local area, and also inspire more places to make supporting such ventures part of their work on this issue.”

Would love to hear your arts & crafts, creative, culture impact case studies…!