Can Mixed Use Developments Save Our High Streets?
Do you live in a town? Not a village or a city. What has happened to your town centre? If yours is like many, it could be looking and feeling quite sad. Recent significant events, piled on top of decades of decline have seen most town centres deteriorate to a level of attractiveness below what the local community needs. Online shopping and out of town retail have contributed to a huge shift in shopping behaviour, all to the detriment of the high street. There has also been a dominance of chain stores that have created many clone towns[1]. Now that these are closing and leaving large empty units behind, we now have post-clone towns with lowering occupancy and often no plan.
Coupled with this decline in retail and subsequent decrease in footfall, we see other negative impacts in town centres. Higher vacancy rates in shops and disused buildings create a disconnect to the local community. They think the town centre is boring, dull, unloved and there is nothing to do there. They stop coming. Without the people there, less care is taken, and we see declining areas become potentially dirty and ugly. This can feel dangerous or unwelcoming. Couple this with a tendency towards car dominance and some awful 20th century town planning we have quite a mess to untangle.
There have been government initiatives that have attempted to tackle this problem. In 2012 for example, Town Teams were created following a review by Mary Portas. The report contains recommendations on how to save the high street.[2] This was backed up by some towns receiving funding to invest in the future. More recently the government have launched the levelling up fund. Some towns have applied to this funding with plans to try and address the high street decline.
There are multiple issues and blockers at play here. Unknown and difficult landlords, lack of funding, lack of vision, to cite three. Many of the buildings left behind by large chain stores are too big for any new prospective tenant. Wayfinding and access for pedestrians is often challenging also.
What can be done?
There are many problems that need many solutions. These will only be found by the community working in partnership. This should include the local authority, landlords, stakeholders, and community groups. Something that has worked well on the Old High Street in Folkestone is a strategy that relies on the development of mixed-use spaces.
The Old High Street is a successful, popular street full of independent shops with a strong food and drink offer. Most importantly, since refurbishment of the last buildings occurred in 2017 the shops have been fully occupied. Pictured on the left is 2-4 South Street. This has a restaurant on the ground floor, currently Pick Up Pintxos[3], nine office studio spaces on the first floor and two flats on the second floor. Pictured on the right is 73-79 The Old High Street. This has Bounce Vintage[4] on the ground floor and eight live / work units on the first to third floor.
These two buildings have both been full since completion in 2017 (2011 for South Street) and they contain numerous creative and thriving businesses. These form part of the huge creative community that has built up in Folkestone in the 21st Century[5]. The live/work units are most interesting as they are hugely popular and form the basis of a new kind of work life balance. This has proved to be resilient and beneficial during recent pandemic lockdowns. Here is an extract from the layout of the first floor of 73-79 The Old High Street.
The creative tenant lives in the flat and has a work studio next door. This creates a separation for the business owner and their clients and allows for deliveries and work-related activity to be away from the home. For the landlord there are development tax and business rate benefits as well.
Plan showing the relationship between flat 1 and studio 1 with separate front doors.
These types of live / work lifestyles can produce higher productivity and inspire creativity. Research shows that the users can live more healthily and happily[6]. The building itself creates connections and the residents and customers of the businesses all frequent the shops and nearby food offer. This in turn creates less travel and fewer car journeys, a smaller carbon footprint and benefits the economy and the environment. These schemes contribute to social value for the local community. There are ways in which the financial impact can be measured using TOMS[7]. In all, this creates a wealth of benefits to the users, owner, and wider society.
There is a lot to take in there and this is journal 01 of many to come from Lockwood Building Projects. Please see our website lockwoodbp.co.uk to read about ways in which we can help you understand the way forward. Please also reference the research contained here for further information.
Can mixed use developments save the High Street? Yes, they can be part of the mix and contribute significantly to making progress. Hard work, partnership, collaboration, and a strong willingness from the community are also essential ingredients.
[1] New Economic Forum – Clone Town Britain
[2] The Portas Review
[3] https://pickuppintxos.com/
[4] https://bouncevintage.com/
[5] https://www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/folkestone-creative-quarter/
[6] Saville-Smith, K. 2010. Neighbourhoods and Intensification: Measuring Sustainability Impacts of Higher Density and Mixed Use. Proceedings of the New Zealand Sustainable Building Conference, 26th – 28th May 2010. Available at: https://cresa.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/paper.pdf
[7] National TOMs 2019 Guidance 1.0.pdf (local.gov.uk)