Portsmouth City Centre North Development

Description

INTRODUCTION Portsmouth City Council - the 'Council' - with support from its appointed development consultants Mace, Montagu Evans and Vail Williams - is seeking to engage with a cross section of site wide muti-use and specialist developers in respect of its plans for regeneration of the City Centre North (CCN) strategic area. The Council anticipates partnering with a lead developer to deliver the scheme across multiple phases, and potentially a range of uses. The Council is also interested in speaking with specialist developers of specific uses to test their feasibility. The Council considers that the following specialist uses could be of relevance to CCN development: • Multi-family Build to Rent (BTR) / Co-living • Single family BTR • Extra care • Key worker housing • Purpose Built Student Accommodation • Hotel • Offices KEY OBJECTIVES The Council is aiming to transform the northern part of the city centre. The plans will the see the redevelopment of the former Tricorn and Sainsbury's sites, which the Council bought to unlock the opportunity for long-term regeneration of wider area. The plan focuses on making the best use of this large area by creating new homes, new walking and cycling routes and a large open green space stretching from St. Agatha's Church to All Saints' Church. By bringing more residents into the area, the project should not only deliver more homes for local people, but also more customers for shops, restaurants and other businesses in the city centre. The project will support and address growing city centre housing market demand for a quality product with mixed tenure options. The City Centre North project has extant outline planning consent which focuses on: • The future of the city centre and environmental needs • What residents have been telling us through the Local Plan survey and the Imagine 2040 City Vision • Joining up logically with our other projects in the city centre • Supporting the need for sustainable, affordable homes • Enabling a greener city with easier travel • The local community but also considers attracting visitors The development will include the construction of a phased, mixed-use scheme comprising: • Up to 10,000 sqm GIA of non-residential uses (Use classes E, F1, F2) • Up to 2,300 housing units • 22,400 sqm new green open spaces and public realm The development will transform a 13.25 ha predominantly brownfield site into a new and attractive city quarter with a large central green space. The enhanced public realm and legible connections across the site will allow natural footfall and permeability from the city centre and surrounding residential areas. PHASING The project is split into two phases as per the extant planning consent: • Phase 1 comprises two buildings delivering 550 new homes, non-residential floorspace and associated landscaping and access work, including part of the new public green space. The buildings form a courtyard arrangement which maximise views into and interacts with the green space. o 70/30 split between private sale & affordable tenures. o Affordable tenures split 70/30 between affordable rent & shared ownership. o 164 sqm of flexible commercial space (Class E, F1 or F2). • Phase 2 comprises a series of residential or mixed-use development plots, including the remainder of the new green space. o Later phases have an increased ground floor mix of retail and food & beverage to activate spaces and bring footfall through the development. o The City Centre Roads scheme will reconfigure the adjacent road network and promote priority to public transport, walking and cycling. o Outline planning permission has been granted for:  Up to 1800 dwellings  Up to 9,840 sqm GIA of non-residential uses (Use classes E, F1, F2)  Completion of 22,400 sqm new green open spaces and public realm It is envisaged that Phase 1 can be delivered without any changes to roads in the area. Phase 2 will require the highway network to be changed to create space for the new developments, which will include walking and cycling routes alongside accommodating cars and buses. PLANNING STATUS Permission to grant Outline planning permission was approved in autumn 2023. The outline planning application states: 'demolition of existing buildings and the construction of a phased development of up to 2,300 residential units (Use Class C3), up to 10,000sqm non-residential uses (Use Classes E, F1 and F2), and associated servicing facilities, parking, plant space, open space (including a public park), landscaping, access and highways works. Phase 1 to comprise residential units and non-residential uses with full details of access, layout, scale and appearance provided, with landscaping reserved. Subsequent phases to comprise residential units and non-residential uses with details of strategic means of access provided with all other matters reserved.' A link to the publicly accessible planning application and document pack is included below: https://publicaccess.portsmouth.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=RH48KUMO0OE00&activeTab=summary The application has been kept flexible. It identifies the potential range of land uses and capacity of development that could be delivered on the site. It also identifies the broad locations for potential new buildings, new pedestrian and cycle priority routes, and new shared spaces, including the creation of a significant open green space for Portsmouth. The application also shows how the land might be developed over time and how it will relate to the existing and future road network. It also considers in detail how several existing environmental, land ownership and physical issues might be addressed to deliver the improvements needed in the area. ROAD NETWORK & INFRASTRUCTURE The reconfiguration of the city centre roads would complement and support Portsmouth's Vision for the city centre, resulting in a city less dominated by private vehicle traffic and parking, and a place where use of sustainable modes of travel is the norm for many more people than today. The CCR proposal is supported by complimentary proposals for sustainable transport schemes including the Tipner Transport Hub and development of the SEHRT network. The totality of the infrastructure improvements required to deliver the City Centre North Masterplan is yet to be fully understood in detail, however, to date a detailed options development and appraisal process has been undertaken in line with DfT's best practice for the City Centre Roads project considering the scheme objectives, impact on the city transport network and impacts on the wider development amongst other factors. The option development process is outlined in the Option Assessment Report (OAR) and its associated Addendum, produced by Stantec, on behalf of PCC which can be shared with the successful Supplier upon award. An overview of the current preferred design and its key features are detailed in turn below: • Conversion of Hope Street to facilitate two-way traffic; • Retain Church Street as two-way; • Conversion of Lake Road and Commercial Road into a clockwise gyratory; • Closure of Marketway to all vehicles. Buses currently using Market Way will be diverted to Charlotte Street which will become two-way; • Segregated two-way bus lanes on Commercial Road and Lake Road; and • New and upgraded pedestrian and cycle facilities, with a new active travel network across the development site and integrating with existing and aspirational city-wide facilities. The City Centre Roads project is currently expected to be funded from the DfT's Major Road Scheme RIS3 Fund with the Strategic Outline Business Case currently being finalise for submission, although the exact figure has not yet been determined. There is potential to secure funding from the private sector through the planning process (which is still to be undertaken) such as through S106 agreements, but opportunities to do so have not yet been identified. It should be noted that in parallel to the work being delivered under this contract, a separate contractor review of the roads scheme will be undertaken to review the affordability and buildability of the Infrastructure elements. LAND ASSEMBLY The Council now owns approximately 64% of the land within the scheme boundary, leaving the balance of 36% with third parties. In summary the remaining third-party land includes a number of commercial units on Commercial Road such as those occupied by Argos and McDonalds, some light industrial units on Frederick Street and one on Clarence Road, a petrol station and some commercial units with residential above also on Commercial Road. In accordance with the Land Acquisition Strategy produced by Gateley Hamer and dated December 2023, the Council has continued to progress with acquiring third-party property assets that fall within the red line regeneration area boundary through negotiation and agreement. The strategy and red line ownership plan are included within the documents accessible via the Council's e-sourcing system In-tend. CCN - FURTHER INFORMATION Further information regarding the project can be accessed publicly via the web-link below which includes for location plans, masterplan artists impressions, strategic context, etc. https://portsmouthcitycentre.co.uk/future-plans/city-centre-north/ Further additional information such as additional artists impressions and key facts about Portsmouth is included for within the City Centre North - Summary Marketing Leaflet accessible via In-tend.