latest glimpse of cardiff’s new bus station
PLANS for Cardiff’s £100m Interchange scheme, which includes the city’s new bus station, have been put out to public consultation.
The plans are for a bus station with 14 stands and a cycle hub for 144 bikes; six retail units; six storeys of office space; 301 private residential apartments; and 265 car park spaces, with 225 allocated for the BBC Cymru headquarters.
Following the four-week consultation, the latest project at Central Square, which is being driven by developer Rightacres, will be submitted for planning with Cardiff council with a determination expected later this summer.
The project is being delivered by the Metro Delivery Partnership (MDP), which is made up of Cardiff council, the Welsh Government, Cardiff-based Rightacres and Network Rail.
The bus station is just one element of the transport hub.
MDP is looking for the UK Government’s Department for Transport to match-fund £100m committed by the Welsh Government and Cardiff Capital Region City Deal towards the redevelopment of Cardiff Central railway station in order for it to cope with an expected huge rise in passengers.
There is the possibility that the Welsh Government could pay for the bus station element of the scheme itself. Either way, the bus station, which will cost about £20m, will be operated by Transport for Wales.
And while the office and apartment space, subject to planning consent, are not scheduled for completion until mid 2021, the bus station could potentially be operational in late 2020.
The apartments will be a misture of studios and one to three-bedroom flats. The residential element will range in height from 22 storeys fronting Wood Street to eight storeys fronting Marland Street.
While not confirmed Rightacres, building on its partnership with financial services giant L&G, is expected to engineer, on behalf of the MDP, a forward funding financing deal for the scheme.
L&G has already provided £400m in funding to help deliver Rightacres’ wider Central Square scheme, so is an obvious candidate to provide finance to deliver the Interchange scheme.
It it has also recently launched a new build division for rented properties, in Legal & General Homes. This could potentially see this division acquiring the 301 apartments that will be rented at the Interchange.
And with eventually up to about 10,000 people working at the wider Central Square scheme, there is potentially a strong market for companies seeking to rent apartments so close to their offices.
The new designs for the Interchange have been put together by Cardiff-based Holder Mathias Architects. Enabling work for the scheme, which has consent, started earlier this year.