WHERE’S OUR BUS STATION?
LONG-AWAITED PROJECT HIT BY WARNINGS OF FRESH DELAYS
THE plans for Cardiff’s new stateof-the-art bus station have been thrown into disarray, we can reveal.
The long-awaited multi-millionpound scheme in the heart of the city centre cannot go ahead in its current form, according to the developer.
The shock announcement has led to warnings of further delays for the troubled scheme – which included private flats and office space near the entrance to Cardiff Central railway station – and concerns it may now need to be redesigned.
The developer has said the private flats should be replaced with an unspecified number of student flats.
And if no tenants for the adjoining office space can be found, that too would be replaced with more student flats.
A stark report warns that the completion of the bus station on the Central Square site “remains dependent on securing appropriate tenants for the [interchange] building”.
The project was given planning approval in March 2017 based on there being a bus station on the ground floor, a car park on the first floor, and five storeys of office space and 195 flats taking up the 14-storey building on the Wood Street side.
But now the developer, Righta- cres, has come back to Cardiff council and said having private-rented flats is not viable.
Any changes to student accommodation would need a new planning application that would delay plans for work to start on the three-year building project.
That delay contrasts sharply with the view expressed in July 2015, when the council said construction would get under way in April 2016, with an opening date of summer 2018.
The developer has now also put forward a second proposal for more student accommodation if no office tenants can be found.
Rightacres and the council say they have been “pursuing a number of live enquiries which have the potential to be secured” but they warn that development but will only begin once more than half of the office area is let.
“In the event that office tenants are not secured within a reasonable timescale, the developer is proposing to extend student accommodation across the whole of the building.”
Further planning permission would be required for that to happen, and the building would have to be redesigned once again, potentially pushing the timescale back yet further.
In documents seen by councillors this week, it was revealed the council told the developer it could not put a budget hotel or student accommodation in the flagship building. It is understood the constraints were placed by the previous council administration led by Phil Bale.
Now the scheme is being overseen by cabinet member Russell Goodway.
The report says that “until recently” the preference was for “the space above the bus interchange building to be predominantly offices”.
That has meant that until 50% of the space is let, the development has been unable to proceed.
The report lists a number of challenges the scheme has faced.
One of those is the choice of city centre location which has in itself “created significant funding challenges”.
It is the first time that funding of the scheme has been made public.
The council has put aside £20m for the delivery of the bus station.
But the report warns: “The costs provided for the construction of the bus station element at this stage are high level and subject to independent review.”
It adds: “It has become increasingly apparent that the council’s decision to deliver the new bus interchange project on the site of the former Marland House
and Wood Street NCP Car Park has created significant funding challenges.
“In particular the decision has created a significant land premium for the development; it has limited the potential of capital receipts that can be generated from what would otherwise be a prime development site; and has added costs to the construction of the overall development scheme.
“Whilst the developer remains committed to delivering a solution, these issues have created a very difficult financial equation to resolve”.
Another consideration is parking spaces.
The development includes 225 parking spaces for BBC staff who will be using the new headquarters next door.
Originally, the plan was for those spaces to go underground so valuable floor space was not lost.
However, the plans approved included a car park within the building. It means a loss of income on that space.
The report reads: “The cost of land, and the cost of car parking has made the financial equation extremely difficult to resolve.”
The council is also yet to hear if it has been given funding from the Welsh Government towards fitting out the new building and roads outside.
When Swansea and Newport upgraded their bus stations, such funding was given.
At the beginning, the council believed that despite buying St David’s House and Marland House at a raised price, it would make the money back once the area was redeveloped.
However, the cost associated with buying the NCP car park was greater than expected, as the council also had to incorporate providing hundreds of parking leases.
Full details of the costs of the scheme remain confidential.
The old bus station was closed on August 1, 2015, ahead of demolition.
Demolition followed for Marland House and the adjoining Wood Street shops.
The first artist’s impressions of the bus station were released in June 2015, after the council appointed world leading architects Foster + Partners to design the scheme.
Since then, the design has changed significantly.
By September 2016, the curved building had gone and had been replaced with a different design.
Some city residents weren’t impressed with the changes, with one calling the new design a “Soviet-era monolith”.
However, Gerard Evenden, head of studio at Foster + Partners architects hit back saying that it was a “modern building, and architecturally it will be very beautiful if it’s detailed correctly.”
Cardiff council’s cabinet will meet on Thursday to discuss the plans.