Cheshire East in talks with Capital & Centric for town centre regen
Previously earmarked for a leisure scheme that was scrapped due to viability constraints, the Royal Arcade site is now being lined up for more than 300 homes.
Cheshire East Council is in talks with a developer Place North West understands to be Capital & Centric about bringing forward the redevelopment of the two-acre Crewe town centre site into a residential-led scheme.
As part of any deal with the local authority, the developer wants exclusivity on another two development sites in the town centre, Chester Street and Delamere Street car parks, according to a Cheshire East Council report.
The report, which describes the unnamed party as “a well-known developer of residential-led mixed use schemes in places with similar economic challenges as Crewe”, also states that the development would require viability gap funding, most likely from Homes England or the soon-to-formed Cheshire Combined Authority.
Cheshire East Council and C&C were contacted for comment.
Crewe’s Royal Arcade site has been the subject of several regeneration false dawns.
Before the 2008 recession, Brendan Flood’s Modus had been working up plans for a retail-led scheme called Delemere Place.
The council bought the site for £6m in 2015 and forged ahead with plans for a multi-storey car park and new bus station, which have both been delivered.
Phase two was for a leisure project featuring an eight-screen Empire cinema, five leisure units, five retail units, a bowling alley, and 13,000 sq ft gym to the town centre.
Cheshire East was working with Cordwell Properties and Pevril Securities on this element of the scheme but in 2023 the project was scrapped; “double-digit inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, and the government’s decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham” had rendered the project undeliverable, the council said at the time.
Now, the Royal Arcades site is central to Cheshire East’s efforts to regenerate Crewe.
The report states that the town is the most deprived in the borough but has significant growth potentially due in part to the presence of large employers such as Leighton Hospital – due for a £1.2bn upgrade – and Bentley, among others.
The council has an ambition for Crewe to be “the best small city” in Europe by 2050, the report adds. As part of that bid, challenges in bringing forward sites like the Royal Arcades will need to be overcome.
The authority is also working up plans for the regeneration of land around Crewe train station, one of the busiest junctions in the country that sees 3m passengers pass through each year.
Crewe town centre is in need for redevelopment and residential will increase evening footfall and improve the vitality of the centre. Hopefully, ground floor retail/f&b uses can still be maintained and linked to the multi-storey car park and bus station.
Including the nearby car parks could be a way to have a larger development, but the Royal Arcade site should be the priority and first to be developed.
Surprised they Capital & Centric are not after the Police Station site next to the Lifestyle Centre, as they are due to relocate in 2027, leaving a brownfield site ideal for a tall building needing development.
By Anonymous
We need shops not residential
Come in council give us what you promised
By Anonymous
What about putting the opportunity out to the market!
By Anonymous
Good luck with that!
By Mr Littlewoods
How can they be selected without any formal tendering? I know plenty of developers who would want to have a look at this. Surely side stepping procurement isn’t allowed?
By Anonymous
Hi Anonymous. See paragraphs 76 and 77 of this report for clarity on your point https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/documents/s126895/Report%20and%20Appendices%201%20and%202.pdf. Best wishes, Dan.
By Dan Whelan
BUILD AN ICE RINK !!!!!!!
By Pam Price
Brilliant.just what the town needs.homes will bring people who will spend there money in crewe.
Needs to be social housing with car park space included.
To make use of the new car park which is losing a forunr
By Terry bradley
In relation to Paragraph 77 of the report there is a fundamental question that has to be asked of the officers if a direct award is recommended. How have they been able to determine that a particular developer (in this instance Capital & Centric) is best placed to deliver the development?
This opportunity screams out that it should go to the market and let Capital & Centric bid competitively. This avoids the accusations which Cheshire East Council have had in the recent past about land disposals and other procurement (or lack of them) exercises.
By Anonymous
The Pageboo Developer Led Framework has several parties that could put together schemes that meet the Council’s requirements for the regeneration of Crewe Town Centre. Why is a competition not been promoted here especially if 1) the risk profile for the scheme is tilted to the Council and / or 2) there is the use of public sector grant in the scheme.
By Anonymous
This is fantastic news and will regenerate the town center and move it to a modern setting.A miniature liverpool, one think about it.
By Clive Armitage
Anonymous 12.06pm – I think you will find that shops need residents to buy stuff from them. It isn’t rocket science.
By Anonymous
If someone could be bothered, You could drive a cart and horse through that procurement statement. C&C are well and truely on the public handout la gravy train, good luck to them, spen none of your own money and use the term sweat equity a lot. Shows the power of doing lots of social media posts! 😊
By Anonymous
Expensive empty coffee shops for another town then ! C&C one dimensional offer and design cut and pasted from Farnworth or similar
By Man on the street
What a load of rubbish.Do these councillors even come from Crewe.Pathetic
By Anonymous
As someone who runs a business in Crewe and with a background in development going back 30+ years I’m delighted by this. I know there are comments below about ‘we want shops’ but the simple reality is that large scale retail schemes are not viable outside major cities. To get shops you need people and a residential led scheme, with some retail, will do that. Great move
By Tim H
Building houses is not regeneration its an accepting that the town centre is no longer a town centre. How does removing the space into accomodation work towards the 2050 vision. Level the land off tarmac and use the space for events.
By Anonymous
We don’t need more homes we need more shops to make the town a great place to shop, plus I’m glad they didn’t build a new cinema WE HAVE ONE we don’t need another bowling alley WE HAVE ONE, we don’t need another gym WE HAVE ONE…. We don’t want housing because we know who will get them, I’m glad we got the Bus station we needed it badly but that Carpark is a waste of money…. Build more shops so people don’t have to go out of town ie : Stoke. Liverpool, Manchester etc
By A Very Angry Crewey
Angry Crewey seems to know who will get these homes. They don’t, because they’ve almost certainly got no idea how it works (hint: it’s not how the social media grifters pretend it does) but even if Angry is correct, they don’t want those people there. Modern Britain in a nutshell: ignorant of the facts but not bothered about the welfare of people who need find somewhere to live.
By Green Belt Ben
Building 300 homes in the town centre!!! So all the improvements weren’t to encourage a pedestrianised SHOPPING experience for Crewe residents at all. WE WANT SHOPS.
By Anonymous
There have been road works in Crewe to make a dedicated walk/bike path from the station to the centre of Crewe. How nice for the 300 new houses to have all this landscaping. Cheshire East you have ruined the town centre, closing all shops, you’ve ruined a market that was loved by all. Nantwich is a successful shopping destination, run by Cheshire East. We are always the poor relations and a laughing stock. Deliver what you have been promising for decades, a smart new shopping centre. After all we do have an empty multi storey car park!!!
By Anonymous
We don’t need houses in town we need shops not just coffee shops andd barbers we need decent places in the town it’s self for people to shop
By Jeanette Owen
100% the right call to base this around residential, people need to accept that town centre’s the size of Crewe will just not return to the way they used to be, so there has to be a different approach. You could argue that the town centre now includes the retail park whoch is literally a 5 minute walk so the footprint is changing; I don’t see an issue with the old edge of the footprint going to largely residential as it’s already been replaced by the retail park, despite the ludicrous claim by many that “there’s no shops in Crewe”
By Mark A
Can I suggest that all the people posting that they want shops stop using the Internet to get delivers, stop using out of town supermarkets and stop using second hand clothing websites then the butcher the baker and candlestick marker might return to the high street. Shops need shoppers new housing will bring in shoppers which may help save what’s left of the Crewe high street.
By Anonymous
Why will people want to come from the rural areas Shavington, Wybunbury, Bridgemere, Audlem and further a field, to the town center to look at houses in the town center. Where will residents, park their cars, who buy or rent these properties. And, do we really need MORE, cafes and coffee shops. The problem is with the town center, the retail park is to close to the town. Anyone, using the retail park. Will not drive to the retail park, do their shopping, then drive to the town center, for a coffee. Until you can sort out the problem with the retail park, you will never get small independent shops in Crewe town center
By Bob
Crewe urgently needs a proper town centre regeneration, and the focus should be on delivering a modern shopping mall that’s directly connected to the car park and bus station—similar to Warrington town centre. This development should attract large retailers, restaurants, and leisure venues that stay open into the evening, creating a vibrant hub for residents and visitors alike.
The kind of indoor, all-weather mall that was originally promised by Cheshire East would be a huge step forward. Anything less risks selling Crewe short and letting the town down badly. This is a chance to revitalise the town centre, boost the local economy, and make Crewe a destination people actually want to spend time in.
By Nick
The problem with our region is we’re limited to the usual suspects in the development world, who usually ask the earth in grant funding leaving less money for other schemes.
By Anonymous