While agents admit that the public sector’s performance is improving, there is still frustration about the focus on residential. Martin Blackwell of Blackwell Consulting says Peterborough’s disadvantage now is the proportion of office stock it has out of town compared with in town, at a time when more occupiers want space in city centres. He says: “The council will need to
pump some prime office stock into a central location. There has been reasonable take-up of existing stock at rents of £8-£10 per sq ft, sometimes higher, but at those sort of levels you aren’t going to get new buildings.” Out of town, the council has won a gold star. Last year, IT firm Kelway
Once we get that going, once people see meaningful progress, then people will see that Peterborough is serious,” he says. “However, it has to be taken forward at
a realistic pace. There is a big gap at times between aspiration and what is deliverable and we have to make sure that what we are planning is deliverable.” By way of example, he points to the
plans five years ago to build flats in the city centre, but says that demand has gone. Riverside is a £1bn, 20-year project; market forces change and for that reason Edwards says an ongoing dialogue with the private sector is important so that plans can evolve and respond. The council hopes to have a private
sector partner in place by the end of the year, with development starting in 2014. Its new approach to planning and
relocated into a 30,000 sq ft new BREEAM excellent building on Cygnet Park. William Rose, a director at Savills, says it is a good example of the council working with a developer to deliver a building quickly. He says there are further out-of-town
prelet opportunities, with two unnamed requirements of around 40,000 sq ft and 15,000 sq ft, but in town space remains a problem: “There are a number of buildings coming back to the market but they are 10-15 years old.” Offices feature in the city council’s
wider regeneration plans but in the areas earmarked it does not own much land and can therefore only be a facilitator rather than a driver of what happens.
development is already yielding positive results. Richard Croft, associate director at Henry Davidson Developments, which is developing a mixed-use district centre at Stanground, says: “For firms looking to invest in Peterborough, the good news is that the city adopts a pragmatic approach to planning. Councils all too often get bad press for unnecessary delays and costs, so it is good to recognise Peterborough as a city getting it right.” This is good news, but it will take more
positive results to convince the city’s property sector of a turnaround. Savills director William Rose says that if he was to write a school report on Peterborough’s public sector bodies now, it would read “improving” but “stay focused”.
Riverside Opportunity Area: predominantly residential scheme has been on the cards for 20 years
place to push forward with regeneration aspirations. The search is already under way for a
joint venture partner to develop the Riverside Opportunity Area – 100 acres of land on the north and south banks of the River Nene. It is a project that has been on the cards in some form for 20 years. The council has been buying the land
and is looking for the private sector to put money and development skills into the equation. It will be predominantly residential but will also include retail, leisure and cultural space. Edwards says the plans are not fixed
and the focus is very much on what is viable. “The Riverside Opportunity Area is important because it is the tipping point.