High Wycombe: House of Fraser & Chilterns Shopping Centre overhaul

Bucks Council approved a Future High Streets (FHS) development programme on Tuesday (February 15) that will radically transform parts of town in High Wycombe.

As part of vast rejuvenation plans, the council is looking at House of Fraser (HoF), the Chilterns Shopping Centre, and other properties, including along Frogmoor.

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The wider portfolio aims to attract new business, redevelop redundant sites, create housing, unlock Government funding, and make Eden Shopping Centre the town’s primary retail destination.

Cabinet member for finance, resources, property and assets Cllr John Chilver said it would create a more “vibrant, diverse and thriving” town centre.

Future High Streets Fund

The council was awarded £11.8 million by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) over three years in December 2020, although it had bid for £17.2 million in July of the same year. (It also committed to top up the grant for a total investment of £15 million).

Then, in June 2021, the council received the first tranche (£6.7 million) of Future High Streets Funding (FHSF) from Government. Since then, two vacant shops in the town including on Church Street have been acquired and are being ‘repurposed’, it said.

Government funding must be spent by March 31, 2024, according to a report.

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House of Fraser

The council said it intends to ‘repurpose’ the 13,000 sqm House of Fraser building in Eden Shopping Centre to “further economic activity and vitality in the town centre”.

It also intends to ‘bring forward much-needed housing and associated benefits’ by repurposing “underutilised space” in the town.

This move – which is subject to Government approval – is a co-investment between the council (freeholder) and Eden owners, and is part of an alternate plan to secure a Year 2 grant after another project was not possible, it said.

It said HoF is a “short-term” tenant, and that a new “anchor store” with reduced floorspace is desirable.

“House of Fraser occupy the building on a temporary short-term arrangement and there is no certainty that they will remain as tenant,” the council said. “Eden are in on-going discussions with them but regard it as prudent to look at alternative options.

“As with other shopping centres in the UK, these look at bringing in increased family-friendly activity into the building. This will result in reduced retail floorspace, aimed at attracting a new anchor store.”

In 2019, commercial property consultants Chandler Garvey outlined plans that HoF could be replaced with offices.

The shop had been earmarked for closure in 2018 when HoF fell into administration. But high street mogul and Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley bought the company in a £90 million deal, vowing to keep 80 per cent of shops open.

When pressed on the plans at the time, House of Fraser did not respond, but a spokesman for Eden said it was “forward planning” that should not be considered a done deal.

Chilterns Shopping Centre

Bucks Council also confirmed it intends to sell 6-8 Frogmoor (Yes Please Golf) to developer Dandara to “facilitate the redevelopment” of the Chilterns Shopping Centre for mainly residential use.

There had previously been aspirations to redevelop the so-called “redundant” 7,035 sqm Chilterns Centre (and Primark) with 300 homes and to relocate Primark (and potentially Wilko) into the Eden Centre. In a previous report, the council said this “key ambition” could mean “an estimated £56 million of investment” for High Wycombe.

6-8 Frogmoor, Yes Please Golf

The council hopes both projects (HoF and Chilterns Centre) will “create potential for new anchors” in Eden Shopping Centre, in turn underpinning it as “the town’s largest retail destination”.

It also said both projects would mean greater rents payable to the council, that it would remove redundant retail space in the Chilterns Centre unlocking residential opportunities, and generate a Capital receipt and planning contributions.

If it does not act on these proposals, it said the Chilterns Shopping Centre is “likely to continue to decline as a retail destination and a comprehensive development is unlikely to be achieved”.

Completion of the above transactions will be made by March 31, 2022.

FHS – what else do we know?

There had previously been plans to ‘repurpose’ The Curve on Oxford Street – formerly known as Octagon Parade and which housed Pure nightclub – by turning it into commercial space. However, The Curve owners, McLaren Group, now have a buyer.

The council had also mentioned creating a “flexible modern-day agora” by bringing the spaces underneath the Guildhall and The Little Market House into use, creating a “critical mass of activity” just outside the doors of Eden.

In previous plans, Bucks Council had also outlined developing “airspace” at High Wycombe Fire Station as affordable housing – and a “new riverside piazza” in front of the Swan Theatre, “enabling more pedestrianisation of the St Mary Street Arts Cultural Entertainment zone”, linking the high street to the university.

It had also mentioned ‘acquiring the Primark building for its investment value (£7.5 million) and disposing of it to Chilterns Centre developers for its lesser redevelopment value (£4.5 million)’.

High Wycombe Social Club (the former Liberal Club) was also under review.

It is unknown whether all sites are still under consideration.

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