IPM Webinar - Future High Street, Alternative use
Place leaders and managers tackling high street vacancy in their town and city centres are increasingly looking at a much longer list of potential uses beyond the more traditional and typical retail, hospitality and services.
Webinar: 8th February 2024 | 2pm - 3.30pm
IPM Members: Free
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Online - Register here
These include health & wellbeing, arts & crafts and community uses as well as culture, creative, leisure, education, office and residential (especially for upper floors – a subject we’ll return to for our 24th April IPM Webinar).
This session will focus on current case studies and hear from the practitioners who are bringing health & wellbeing. arts & crafts and community uses into our highstreets, sharing valuable insights on how place leaders and managers can help make these happen.
Agenda
14:00 - 14:10 - Welcome and Introductions
‘Healthcare on your doorstep’
Harry Braid, Queensberry Real Estate. Acting as Development Manager on a number of projects for shopping centre landlords.
We have repurposed previously empty or low yield units into new health care facilities, including GP offices and Community Diagnostic Centres. This brings healthcare to the heart of the area, improving accessibility for users, relieving strain on existing facilities whilst bringing footfall and long-term deals for landlords.
14:10 - 14:25 -‘Health on Oxfordshire’s high streets’
Wayne Heal MRICS, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
In 2023 we piloted the use of two retail units as wellbeing centres to encourage the public to walk in off the street and talk about their mental health. Since 2023 we’ve agreed to fund the leasing of a further 3 retail units – in Oxford, Kidlington and Wantage – which will be open to the public in the spring of this year. All five units are located in areas which have a high prevalence of poor mental health and are in the more deprived parts of the county.
14:25 - 14:40 - 'Getting The Mix Right’
Mim Norvell & Jo Harvey, Sustainable Wantage
The Mix Community Space – in a previously long-term empty unit in the market town of Wantage in Oxfordshire, now run by Sustainable Wantage, a non-profit sustainability organisation. The Mix plays host to a variety of community initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact and increasing community resilience.
14:40 - 15:00 - ‘Creative, retail spaces for local artists and makers’
Dawn Wood, Fabrication Crafts Ltd
Dawn runs an award-winning social enterprise supporting more than 600 micro crafts and design businesses, with work and retail space in Leeds and York. Running for more than 15 years now its first pop up was supposed to be just week-long. They moved just short of 6 years later and took on a 10-year lease in another unit. Their 2nd pop-up, in York, was initially 4-months but they stayed almost 4 years before taking on a former national store unit opposite. 13 of their makers have gone on to set up on their own up in other places!
15:15 - 15:25 - Discussion
15:25 - 15:30 - Close
Online - Register here
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