Success story

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Gloucester, with its population of 110,000 is one of the South West region’s strategically significant cities and a growth area. The key strategic development issue for Gloucester is to secure regeneration of the city centre and docks area whilst simultaneously bringing forward urban extensions.

However, the city also suffers from economic, social and physical problems, with two inner city wards within the worst 10% most deprived in England. Gloucester has the lowest percentage of people with high level qualifications - being below the county, regional, and England average. The legacy of the commercial docks operation included largely redundant Victorian warehouse buildings with a high heritage value and considerable areas of brownfield land. The area offered significant potential for regeneration to help to support the delivery of enhanced retail, cultural and education facilities as well as helping to develop the area as a place to live and work.

In 2001 the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) approved £7.2m to acquire a 200 year leasehold interest in 4.2 hectares of land in the core docks area. The land included 12,500 sq m of Grade II listed warehouses suitable for conversion to a variety of uses including residential, leisure and commercial. At the time of acquisition, regeneration had stalled. The land purchase initiated a large-scale regeneration and mixed-use development programme for the docks and surrounding areas of Gloucester.

This investment was increased to £17.7m in 2004 to allow for public realm works, estate management and marketing costs. Further investment of £10.1m was approved in 2009 to ensure completion of high quality public realm works and grant funding for Gloucester City Council to bring forward land for development.

The new Gloucester Quays Retail Outlet Centre opened in May 2009 and is expected to draw three million visitors per year. The Docks area provides the key link between the city centre and the Quays. This link is a critical part of wider regeneration plans for Gloucester.

It is important to view the Gloucester Docks project within the broader context of the regeneration of Gloucester which is being implemented through Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company which SWRDA helped to establish in 2004. No one lived within the core docks area in 1999. By the summer of 2006 more than 500 residents enjoyed living in the vibrant docks quarter, many in apartments created within the imposing listed Victorian warehouses that had lain derelict for more than ten years prior to SWRDA’s intervention.

All the derelict warehouses have been restored sensitively by Crest Nicholson to provide 130 new apartments and a 400 sq m restaurant. A new apartment block and a 256 space multi-storey car park have also been built providing a further 84 residential development units together with 663 sq m of ground floor commercial space split over 6 units which are have been sold to new businesses. The first major phase of public realm works was completed using high quality materials to create an attractive pedestrian environment.

The £17.7m investment from the South West RDA has resulted in the following outputs:

• 214 residential units constructed;
• £38.5m private investment levered in;
• 2 hectares of brownfield land reclaimed;
• 1,387 sq m of workspace built;
• 36 jobs created;
• 5 listed buildings refurbished.