BDP’s Preston masterplan moves ahead a step

Following the announcement on Friday last week (26 Jan 2007) that John Lewis has signed up to be the anchor tenant in the BDP masterplanned regeneration of central Preston, the next stage for developer Grosvenor is to submit the 5m sq ft (139,353 sq m) scheme for planning approval.

BDP was asked by Grosvenor in 2005 to take forward Terry Farrell’s original masterplan for the Tithebarn regeneration project in Preston city centre. The £650m major mixed use project now includes 700,000 sq ft (65,031sq m) of retail, of which 230,000 sq ft (21,367 sq m) is John Lewis store, residential, leisure and a hotel.

BDP Architect Director John Wakes said “The John Lewis signing has given a very welcome boost to our plan. I lived and worked in Preston for a number of years and so know that the city redevelopment is eagerly anticipated”

The masterplan for Grosvenor complements a city centre spatial strategy completed by BDP in 2005 for City Centre Management Company in partnership with Preston City Council. This was commissioned after Preston was awarded City status in 2002 and was based on an in-depth analysis of the urban structure of the City and its hinterland.