Pricing & demandTwo car parks for a cinema and flats
Place North West reported on 19 June 2015 that Cheshire East Council would offer the Churchill Way car park, 75,000 sq ft, and the Duke Street car park, 80,000 sq ft, for sale as land deals, 155,000 sq ft together by our arithmetic, for a cinema, apartments, restaurants and cultural uses, with parking to be replaced. It said Debenhams had withdrawn as anchor earlier that year and talks with Cineworld were ongoing. No price or number of homes is given. The report is over eleven years old and we haven’t checked what was built.
What would you need to know to judge demand for a cinema in a town centre, and why might an anchor tenant leaving matter? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting numbers£90m over 200,000 square feet
Construction Enquirer reported on 14 June 2013 a £90m Silk Street scheme of 200,000 sq ft with Debenhams, a cinema and a multi-storey car park, developed with Wilson Bowden, with planning granted and a start expected in early 2014. £90m over 200,000 sq ft is £450 a sq ft by our arithmetic, but the scheme also included highway work, public realm and houses on Roe Street, so it is not a cost of shop space. The article is over thirteen years old and gives no jobs.
Why would £90m divided by 200,000 sq ft not show the cost of shop space, and what would you want to check? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersEnding a development agreement
The 2015 Place North West report said the council had ended its development agreement with Wilson Bowden for Silk Street and would withdraw the related compulsory purchase order, with no money paid to the developer and the developer meeting the order’s costs. The council committed £1m of capital to refurbish the town centre, and TheBusinessDesk reported on 4 May 2016 a £1m public realm scheme and on 6 September 2017 a draft five-year strategy with the Silk Heritage Trust. All the items are old and we haven’t checked outcomes.
Should a council walk away from a major scheme after a long planning effort, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Macclesfield’s economy in the classroom
Wikipedia’s list of settlements in Cheshire by population gives 54,345 for Macclesfield (2021 census, built-up area). Car parks offered for a cinema and flats, a scheme total that isn’t a cost per square foot and a council that ended a development agreement give students real contexts for demand, interpreting figures and judging a council’s strategy. We tie these themes to topics on the specification.
Sources: Wikipedia, list of settlements in Cheshire by population (2021 census); Place North West, 19 June 2015; Construction Enquirer, 14 June 2013; TheBusinessDesk, 4 May 2016 and 6 September 2017. The 155,000 sq ft and £450 figures are our arithmetic. All the sources are between nine and thirteen years old, no price or homes figures are given, two of the articles were cut off, and we haven’t checked what has happened since.
