Retail property: a resilient pillar…

This week P-THREE and CACI launch an important joint report into the future of our urban spaces. Six Pillars of Success: Building Resilient Communities is a data-rich examination of the principles that we believe will build long term resilience and balance into new development and places.

Some of our conclusions might be surprising, not least our long-term confidence in bricks and mortar retail.Let me explain…

Resilient places need the right amount of retail space, in the right locations and in an appropriate mix to thrive. But, as CACI and P-THREE absolutely agree, achievement ultimately rests in the hands of people. And I’m absolutely confident that the property and built environment community has the vision, expertise and determination to make that happen.

In Six Pillars of Success we identify the key property pillars that allow the built environment to engage the community, deliver social value and remain commercially viable. The breadth of each pillar will vary from location to location, but we see the combination of all six playing an important role in virtually any place. I encourage you to read the full report to understand each pillar in detail for yourself.

In this Perspectives, though, I’d like to focus on the fact our report includes right sizing retail as one of the pillars for resilient communities. In spite of plenty of lurid headlines over recent years forecasting its physical demise, this reflects our belief that traditional retail occupiers very much have a role to play in future urban development.

That doesn’t mean nothing needs to change. It fundamentally does. How? I suggest that right sizing and appropriate leasing strategies (considering both individual retailers and store types) will be core to future retail development.

And that will depend on much more active curation than we’ve been used to. This won’t always be easy. P-THREE has already acknowledged the challenges presented by multi-ownership locations. But if it is executed correctly, community retail on our local high streets should look and feel quite different to brand flagships in city centres.

If we look to the future, we can see that rebalancing of retail space is already underway. At Stretford, Greater Manchester, for instance, Bruntwood Works and Trafford Council are well into the public consultation phase of a £13m plan covering over 27 acres and comprising five neighbourhoods, which involves a phased redevelopment of Stretford Mall to provide an evolved retail and leisure offering to a rejuvenated King Street (more details about this are in our report).

We have evidence that well-positioned retailing leads to stronger neighbourhoods. An excellent example is Lendlease’s widely acclaimed transformation of Elephant Park in central London’s Elephant & Castle district, where over 90,000 sq ft of targeted retail complements new housing and workspace, all centred on an important two acre green space.

We know that some of those involved in forward planning are now carefully considering the mix of retail use types. Take Truro Town Investment Plan’s stated 2030 vision, which acknowledges the significance of tourism for the town, but balances this with a proposed retail mix that remains appropriate for the local residential population as well as for tourists, welcoming national brands alongside local independents and community entrepreneurs (again, see our report for more details).

In summary: resilient places need the right amount of retail space, in the right locations and in an appropriate mix to thrive. But, as CACI and P-THREE absolutely agree, achievement ultimately rests in the hands of people. And I’m absolutely confident that the property and built environment community has the vision, expertise and determination to make that happen.

Watch out for a future Perspectives later this year, where we’ll cover one of the other six pillars – community spaces to love – and highlight the crucial, but sometimes overlooked, contribution amenities and services, from job centres and markets through nail bars to post offices, make in keeping places resilient.

Article by Justin Taylor, Co-founder P-THREE