Mansfield’s only commercial development in decade comes to market
THE latest stage in the regeneration of Nottinghamshire's biggest town has seen a £2.4m retail development come on to the market.
Queen's Place has been built on the site of a run-down pub close to Mansfield town centre and next to its new £9m bus station.
The speculative project has been developed by Mansfield District Council with a mix of £867,000 from the European Regional Development Fund and £1.92m from the council's own coffers.
It is the first new building to go up in the town centre in the space of ten years, and the council's regeneration bosses say they hope it will play a key role in boosting commercial confidence in the town.
One of its key selling points will be energy efficiency, the building securing an A-rating for energy performance and a forecast excellent rating under the terms of the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (known as BREEAM).
Mike Robinson, head of regeneration, leisure and marketing at Mansfield District Council, said: "The standard guarantees extremely low running costs, which will enable retailers to occupy the most up-to-date and environmentally sustainable, landmark building in the town centre at very competitive rates.
"But retailers will benefit most from occupying a building run and managed by a council absolutely committed to the growth of the town centre.
"Mansfield is going places. The town centre has seen somewhat of a revival despite the downturn. That's thanks to major levels of investment and a really strong public and private sector partnership driving growth."
The council says Queen's Place will form a gateway to the town from the bus station and the nearby railway station.
It says most of the five million passengers using the bus station annually will go past the building on their way into the town.
Then larger of the two units in Queen's Place opens out into an outdoor seating area which makes it most suited to a restaurant or café.
The smaller unit has a glazed floor-to-ceiling frontage offering one of the most striking display windows in the town.
The site is being marketed on the council's behalf by the Nottingham property agent Innes England.
Innes England director Matt Hannah said: "Any retailer based at Queen's Place will capitalise on the significant footfall generated by the adjacent new bus station and train station.
"The transport interchange brings people directly past Queen's Place into the heart of the centre of Mansfield.
"Queen's Place offers an excellent opportunity for retailers to benefit from close to £11.5m-worth of investment."
Council chiefs are keen to push the scale of the work that has gone into improving the town's prospects as site for inward investment over the past few years.
This includes the £200m spent developing the Mansfield-Ashfield regeneration Route, which ultimately connects significant development opportunities to the M1 and A1.
On top of the £9m new bus station, there has also been a revamp of the town centre's historic area, free wi-fi in the town centre and investment in further education.
A number of new housing developments have also been approved,
Mike Robinson added: "All this, coupled with the town's flourishing business club, a hard-working Business Improvement District in the town centre and a local authority championing events and campaigns to get everyone using their town centre make Mansfield a great commercial opportunity for any retailer."