News

Debenhams to come to Lancaster

Centros has agreed terms with Debenhams to bring the department store to Lancaster as part of the development of its proposed extension of the city centre onto the Canal Corridor North site.

David Lewis, Associate Director of Centros, commented: “Naturally, we are absolutely delighted to have secured Debenhams. It is probably the most popular department store in the country and when we asked Lancaster shoppers in January what they wanted most in the city centre, they asked for a department store and Debenhams was the name they most frequently requested.”

Subject to contract, Debenhams will take a 105,000 sq ft (9,750 sqm) three-level store in the scheme and commit to a 25-year lease. It will be one of the largest Debenhams stores in the northwest — big enough to stock its full range of fashion and household goods.

David Lewis added: “We believe that Lancaster is the largest city in the country that does not currently have a department store and we’ve known that Debenhams has been trying to secure space in the city for many years. Its arrival will anchor our development and be the essential catalyst needed to bring about a major step change in the attraction of the city centre for both shoppers and other retailers.

“Far too many of Lancaster’s shoppers have already told us that they currently travel to Preston, Manchester and even Carlisle to fulfil their shopping needs. We need to give them a very good reason to spend their money in Lancaster and thereby reduce the environmental impact of making so many long distance shopping trips. Debenhams will help to achieve that and also enable Lancaster to compete with the major shopping developments that are in the pipeline for Preston and other Lancashire towns.”

This news coincides with Centros’s third round of consultation this week on its proposed masterplan for the Canal Corridor North site. The developer is proposing a fully mixed-use scheme that will extend the city centre via a pedestrian bridge over Stonewell from St Nicholas Arcades. As well as providing more shopping, the fully pedestrianised development will enhance the existing cultural facilities on the site and include new premises for the Musicians’ Co-operative. Cafés and restaurants will support the cultural side and add to the attraction of the many public spaces in the scheme. There will also be housing on Alfred Street and near the canal, new offices for Mitchell’s, a hotel, and small workshops for local businesses.

Phil Monaghan, head of property at Debenhams, said: “We are delighted to be coming to Lancaster after searching for many years to find a suitable site. We look forward to working with Centros and bringing this exciting city centre development to fruition.”

Lancaster City Council Leader, Ian Barker, added: “Lancaster needs to up its game in the face of competition from other retail centres. It can’t do this just by expanding retail space; it needs a major department store as an anchor. The announcement that Centros has secured Debenhams is a major step forward in keeping retail spend in Lancaster instead of people drifting off to Preston and the Trafford Centre.”

“If this goes ahead it will be a major economic boost for the City. We have to get it right. The Council, as the planning authority, will also be looking carefully at Centros’s plans about how they will handle traffic and parking to make sure this development is the right one for Lancaster.”

As the masterplanning process is brought to a conclusion over the next few weeks, Centros’s design team will move on to the preparation of a detailed planning application to be made early in 2007. This will involve the detailed design of all the buildings as well as major studies of the related transport, retail and environmental issues. As the detailed design work evolves over the next six months, there will also be much further public consultation, including a public exhibition and widespread household leaflet drops planned for the autumn.

30th May 2006