Bid to boost St Albans retail park

A SPRUCE up is on the cards for an out-of-date retail park in St Albans. Hermes Real Estate has submitted a planning application to redevelop the St Albans retail park on Griffiths Way – home to stores such as Matalan and Halfords as well as a McDonald s

A SPRUCE up is on the cards for an out-of-date retail park in St Albans.

Hermes Real Estate has submitted a planning application to redevelop the St Albans retail park on Griffiths Way - home to stores such as Matalan and Halfords as well as a McDonald's restaurant - in an attempt to make it look more modern.

The application, which is currently under consultation, involves redeveloping the existing site to provide several smaller units which will incorporate modern materials such as timber cladding into their design.

Although the tenants will remain the same, changes such as shifting the park's main entrance eastwards, cutting the size of the site occupied by McDonald's by over a half and increasing the number of bicycle parking spaces have been proposed.

Connection

In addition, a new raised table and zebra crossing linking the retail park to the adjacent Sainsbury's supermarket has been suggested in order to provide better connection between the two areas.

A spokesperson for Redwood Consulting which represents Hermes Real Estate, explained the reason for the application: "The buildings that are currently in use are now quite tired in comparison to the retail units available on modern parks. Also, they do not necessarily provide the right type of space for our retailer's ideal store-layouts."

She added: "Although the use of the site would remain unchanged, the new units and their partial mezzanine floors would provide a more flexible sustainable offer to our occupiers."

The application is due to be considered in February.