THE skyline of Bournemouth’s Triangle area could be transformed into high rise with a blueprint for hundreds of new homes and additional retail provision.
An urban design team is currently drawing up a development brief for BCP Council for the area that includes the buildings on both sides of Commercial Road, the Avenue Centre and the under-used Avenue Road car park.
At the heart of the site is the former Marks and Spencer site, empty since the store closed in 2018.
Developers THAT Group, owners of the nearby Hilton and Hampton by Hilton, are working with M&S in a joint venture to redevelop the site as part of the wider, comprehensive plan of this part of town, including an apartment block and retail.
The Echo toured the cavernous empty building with That Group development executive Danny Hazlehurst who said: “There’s the opportunity to really transform the Triangle quarter and we have been working with BCP for the past two years to see what is possible here.”
Read more: What happened to the empty Marks and Spencer store
THAT Group sees the M&S site as ideal for residential and retail, with apartments on a number of levels - potentially ten storeys or more and shop units on the street frontage.
The existing M&S building would be demolished because it could not be repurposed.
Mr Hazlehurst said: “Part of the design process is seeing what the area could look like over the next 10 or 15 years’ time and how it can develop in a planned, coherent way.
“Putting one tall tower in a town or city in isolation does not work, we have seen that in lots of places over the years.”
Read more: Plans for the future of Bournemouth's empty M&S revealed
He said a cluster of buildings of staggered heights would be one option, with one tallest building in the most appropriate location.
Across the town, the skyline at the Lansdowne has changed dramatically in the past few years with the area seeing substantial high rise.
Mr Hazlehurst said: “The Triangle and Commercial Road have enormous potential and the views across the centre and out to sea are stunning.”
The vision fits into the concept of town centre living, bringing more homes into towns to aid the drive for regeneration.
“You won’t find a more sustainable location than this for building homes. It’s a brownfield site, it’s town centre with good public transport which means there is a very different dynamic with regards to cars, parking and how people live.
“We don’t intend to provide a significant amount of car parking with any development here.”
The development brief is expected back in the Spring and THAT Group could submit a planning application by the end of the year.
“The building has been empty for too long,” added Mr Hazlehurst. “We have the opportunity to provide many more people with homes. The next six months will show us what we are able to do.”
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