The Future of Town Centres, Town Centre Management Strategies

Irish Planning Institute National Planning Conference 2010

Planning for a Smarter Ireland

The Future of Town Centres

Town Centre Management Strategies

Richard Hamilton

Tullamore Court Hotel 16th April, 2010

Image of shopping centre

Image of suburb

Image of business park

• Total net sales space of new centres opened 2005-2006. = 230,000 sq.m.

• 10% of then total market spend in Ireland. (approx. €24.75bn ).

• approx. 395,000 sq m gross of additional retail space of Larger developments

• The full retail development pipeline (assuming 100% completion) would represent a 23% addition to the current stock (GDA).

• Unbuilt grants equates to 17% of existing total convenience stock & 26% comparison

• Equivalent to 12 Dundrum Town Centres.- Retail Planning Guidelines for the GDA (4.9)

Image of vacancy on main street

retail vacancy

Dublin: 20.67%

Limerick: <25%

Cork: 17.3% - 18.5%

Galway : 13.6% to 14.3%

-Experian, September, 2009 reported in (www.businessandleadership.com)

National 14.1%

UK 12.5%

Northern Ireland 13.9%

UK- 20% high-street shops in Kent, the Midlands and the North East

- British Property Federation

Without downward movement in rent.......the industry will move from a “full serve” model to a “self-serve” model, and a further 40,000 jobs will be lost (additional to the 35,000 lost in 2009).

Retail Excellence Ireland (March 2010)

Growth in town

diffuses to suburbs

Segregated use & car based mobility

established

Out-of-town shopping permitted

Expenditure in Town Centre

declines

Footfall decline

Loss of Confidence

Vacant Properti

es

Tenant Mix

Suffers

Tenants move to out-of town

location

Town Centre looses diversity & attractiveness

Investment

Suspended

the vicious circle

The reality is.......that most shoppers, especially families, do not have the luxury of daily shopping (as in other parts of Europe) and will do one or two big shopping trips per week, necessitating the use of private transport

-Retail Planning Guidelines for the GDA (4.41)

who cares?

Many of the older inner-suburban centres, ...... now no longer have competitive tenant mixes, suitable shop sizes and attractive shopping environments. These centres need to be revitalised, extended and in some instances, re-invented.

Retail Planning Guidelines for GDA (4.38)

The Dalkey Dilemma

What does the rate payer get for their money?

Policy based response has not worked, is inadequate and too passive to address the crisis:

Town centres require management that is:

• full-time

• pro-active

• knowledgeable

• autonomous

Action –

to function effectively as a viable commercial centre things need to happen...........

- Retail Planning Guidelines 2005, Annex 2, Assessing the Vitality and Viability of Town Centres

there should be co-ordinated town centre management initiatives to promote the continued improvement of the centre.

- Retail Planning Guidelines 2005, Annex 2, Assessing the Vitality and Viability of Town Centres

Town Centre Management - Approaches Town Clerk/Town Centre Manager/Engineer

Architect

Town Centre Partnership

LDV – Local Development Vehicle

LDAV - Local Development Asset Vehicle

Mutual Companies

Property Management - Landlord

BID – Business Improvement District

The Virtuous CircleTown Centre Management

Company/BID

Revenue established

Programmes & Initiatives

Stable, long-term

commitment

Initial Action

Marketing/PR

Optimism

Key Initiative Progress

Investor Confidence

REASONS TO BE HOPEFUL?

• the physical  heart of society

• a community’s roots of identity, memory and belonging

• distinctiveness 

• not just our heritage, its also our future.

• permanence and history of the buildings and streets embodies civic pride, pluralism, diversity and inclusivity.

• where we meet as a society

What does a town centre mean to you?

aspiration

resilient

low-cost

adaption

opportunist

Incremental change

Diversity of ownership

flexibility

Tenure units

use

quality

independent

diversity

BID areas of service delivery

1.Marketing

2. Cleaning & maintenance

3. Capital Improvement

4. Security5. Economic Development

6. Policy Advocacy

7. Community Development

Access and Movement

• Accessibility – Legibility– Traffic Congestion– Soft Modes of Transport– Public Transport

• Car Parking– Location & Quantum– Pricing structure & Enforcement

• Pedestrian Movement Analysis

Hardware • Quality of Building Stock

– Internal– External – Façade & Signage

• Quality of Built Environment– Pavements (width, quality)– Lighting– Street Furniture– Trees and Soft Landscape

• Maintenance and Tidiness– Cleaning strategies– Refuse collection

Software

• Quality of Shopping – Shopping Mix – Anchoring– Shopping+

• Quality of additional services– Legal– Medical– Banking– Insurance, etc

• Culture and Third Space Uses

• Environmental Quality

BIDs are an innovation intended to improve the conditions of city places by taking care of the small things that make up the larger picture

- Jerry Mitchell (2008) Business Improvement Districts and the Shape of American Cities

BID numbers:

US: Approx. 500 – 1,000

New York – 57LA - 32Milwakee - 19San Diego - 12

UK: 68

London: 17

Total: £9.9mMax: £2,472,000 Min: £40,000Leveraging Ratio: 1:.094

Small BID: $20K – $250k

Times Square $6m

Examples of town centre management bid initiativesInHolborn BID

Heart of London BID ((Westminister)

“A downtown is a living thing and it needs effort to survive. Considering the competition from the malls, I don’t think a town can live today without a BID”

John Bowers, Real Estate Broker, Red Bank, New Jersey, Business Improvement Districts, p.130

What community ever screwed up by providing too much quality of life?

What Makes a City Entrepreneurial? Edward L. Glaeser (Harvard University) and William R. Kerr (Harvard Business School) Rappaport Institute/Taubman Center Policy Briefs