Major Bristol city centre development is approved by council
A major scheme to transform a former department store into a residential scheme has been granted planning permission.
AEW, a leading real estate investment and asset managers, has announced that it has received a resolution to grant planning permission to transform the former Debenhams department store in Bristol into a residential led mixed-use development, which will comprise more than 500 new rental homes, 100 of which will be affordable.
The project, which has been designed by AWW Architects, will regenerate this important and prominent site on the edge of Bristol’s Broadmead shopping district into a lively new pedestrianised, tree-lined street, comprising retail and hospitality space. Ten per cent of the retail will be made available to local independent businesses at an affordable, discounted rent.
The proposals will also reinstate the medieval Barr’s Street, which was lost when the Debenhams store was constructed in the 1950s and will connect Broadmead to the Bearpit, a key requirement of the City Council’s recently endorsed Development Delivery Plan for the city centre.
Sustainability features will include the installation of a total of 400 sqm of solar panels, as well as air source heat pumps, with the scheme connected to the Bristol Heat Network and fully electric.
The regeneration of the site will also deliver substantial economic benefits, including an anticipated £11m boost to the local economy per year, with hundreds of additional people living, spending and socialising in the heart of Bristol’s shopping district.
The project will also support 264 new jobs, and an additional 380 construction jobs during the building works.
The property was acquired in 2022 by AEW’s Urban Real Estate Fund (the “Fund”), its second value add vehicle, which has a strategy of repositioning underutilised retail spaces to support the regeneration of town centres. AEW has recently fully committed the £171 million of equity raised on behalf of the Fund across 11 investments.
Charles Royle, portfolio manager at AEW, said: “This is an important new landmark scheme for Bristol, providing much needed private and affordable housing, and a huge step forward in the regeneration of the site and wider Broadmead area. We saw an opportunity to regenerate this underutilised urban building and invest in the creation of a vibrant new area offering a mix of rental housing, as well as retail and community spaces, including the new landscaped Barr’s Street. With four communal roof terraces, excellent amenities, and the connection to the Bristol Heat Network, it will be a model scheme for Bristol.”
