Regeneration & Development

The viability of places

Every regeneration decision is a viability question in disguise. Can this unit let at a rent that justifies the cost of refurbishment? Does the pitch support another food and beverage operator, or has the use changed permanently? Is residential conversion of the upper floors viable at local build costs and values? These are valuation and market questions, and they need answering with evidence before grant bids, masterplan allocations or landlord schemes commit money to them.

The analysis is the same discipline as a rent review applied to a whole place: what are comparable lettings and sales actually showing, what incentives sit behind the headline figures, what is the realistic total occupancy cost for an incoming operator, and where does the gap between cost and value need grant, rent adjustment or a different use to close.

Placemaking that pays its way

Good placemaking is not decoration. It is the deliberate improvement of the things that drive footfall and dwell time — the mix of uses, the quality of the public realm between the anchors, sightlines, markets and events — because those are what move rents and reduce vacancy. Placemaking earns its keep when it changes the underlying trading reality of a pitch, and it fails when it is a cosmetic layer over an offer nobody wants.

The practical work is identifying which interventions change value and which merely cost: where meanwhile uses hold a parade together, where a market or events programme lifts Saturday trade measurably, where servicing, lighting and frontage investment unlock lettings that were previously unlettable.

Sustainable development

Sustainability in town centre development now has a hard financial edge. Energy performance rules increasingly determine whether a commercial building can lawfully be let at all, and the cost of upgrading sits squarely in viability calculations — for landlords deciding whether to invest, and for occupiers pricing what they will take on. Retrofit and reuse of existing buildings is usually the most sustainable option, and in town centres often the only viable one.

Sustainable development also means places that sustain themselves economically: a diverse occupier base not dependent on one anchor, spaces adaptable as uses change, and development that adds to the town centre's footfall rather than diluting it.

• Viability appraisals for regeneration schemes, reuse and conversion projects
• Market evidence on what a pitch or centre can realistically support
• Advice to landlords, occupiers and public sector partners on lettable, workable schemes
• Placemaking interventions tested against their effect on rents, vacancy and footfall
• Energy performance and retrofit costs reflected honestly in viability and negotiations

How this connects to lease work

Regeneration reshapes the evidence base for every lease event in the town. A public realm scheme, a new anchor or a rising vacancy rate all move rental values — and that evidence cuts both ways at review and renewal. Acting for occupiers across the high street means the same market knowledge that informs regeneration advice also informs the rent reviews, renewals and dilapidations cases I run for tenants in the same places.