Shops hope for former Reynard’s Garage building in Piccadilly

8:07am Saturday 28th April 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Gavin Aitchison, gavin.aitchison@thepress.co.uk

The former Reynard’s Garage in Piccadilly, which has been empty for years The former Reynard’s Garage in Piccadilly, which has been empty for years

AN abandoned building in York city centre could be offered to leading retailers at a knock-down rate, in an attempt to kick-start the regeneration of Piccadilly.

Officials at City of York Council are looking into whether it is feasible and legal to give a retailer the old Reynard’s Garage, opposite the Banana Warehouse, for a nominal fee.

The building has been empty for many years, but council leader James Alexander and opposition leader Ian Gillies both say the site could spark the redevelopment of that side of the River Foss.

Coun Gillies said the council should look at giving the site to John Lewis, but Coun Alexander said he had explored that idea and the retailer was not interested.

Both councillors have called for further efforts to be made though, to end the years of unfulfilled speculation around Piccadilly.

Coun Gillies said: “The site is one of high potential and could possibly act as a catalyst for the wider development of Piccadilly.”

Coun Alexander said: “It appears great minds think alike, as I had considered the site which is in council ownership for an additional John Lewis, which would help satisfy what some city centre traders have been saying.

“It is clear from discussions with John Lewis that they do not see this as feasible.

“However I am discussing with council officers the possibility of another high- profile store to bring footfall to the area and help kick-start the Piccadilly development that is some years off and was abandoned after protests from some city centre traders.”

He insisted the council would need to go through due legal processes with any potential retailer.

A John Lewis spokesperson said: “We are committed to the planning application for a John Lewis department store at Monks Cross and hope that it will be approved at the forthcoming planning committee meeting.”

Comments(29)

xtc says...
8:48am Sat 28 Apr 12

What about the hotel then?can that be offered at a knockdown price too?

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roskoboskovic says...
9:25am Sat 28 Apr 12

more nonsense propaganda by the pro piccadilly development brigade.can someone please tell me why sinclair and co are happy for the piccadilly development with potentially a john lewis store to go ahead and they are anti monks cross.i would have thought that these other stores, particularly john lewis, would take more custom away from them than an out of town development would.

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sheps lad says...
9:55am Sat 28 Apr 12

Great minds think alike? Who are you kidding?

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Hicarrumba says...
11:18am Sat 28 Apr 12

Asda it is then

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moeofyork says...
11:22am Sat 28 Apr 12

It should be turned into a coffeeshop amsterdam style then where would be somewhere to smoke grass in peace ,,,

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was york now rotherham says...
12:33pm Sat 28 Apr 12

dose anyone know if tesco's have put in a bid for it yet as they seem to be buying every other empty shop going

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lezyork1966 says...
12:46pm Sat 28 Apr 12

how about they offer it at a knock down price to something the city needs, like a day crèche etc

on an evening it could open as a sandwich/coffee bar/meeting house for groups that need somewhere central for their members to get together

double earner for a building from whats usually non-profitable and so helpful all round.

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magic cat says...
1:07pm Sat 28 Apr 12

Not sure if anyone has been inside the building but it is the former tram shed and the lines are still there. I think that lezyork1966 makes some valid points - it could be made into an interesting building for community organisations who could attract grants.

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lezyork1966 says...
1:22pm Sat 28 Apr 12

i dont think the lines are still in, it was a 'lazer quest' thing in the mid 90's i went once, wasnt a patch on the one under the mecca

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Sawday2 says...
1:24pm Sat 28 Apr 12

errr... what about a car park. No-one can say it would not be needed. It could, of course, have lockable bike lockers too.

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lezyork1966 says...
1:41pm Sat 28 Apr 12

theres a carpark across the road, and one further up the road, and some bays outside it....

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Sage9 says...
1:45pm Sat 28 Apr 12

sheps lad wrote:
Great minds think alike? Who are you kidding?
Two minds, one thought = both half wits.

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Sage9 says...
1:48pm Sat 28 Apr 12

More seriously, you do not give the site away which is being implied, but offer a low cost lease for a certain period which I am sure (or hope!) what is being considered.

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DeeJaiEss says...
4:38pm Sat 28 Apr 12

I am sure the "Mulberry Hall Mafia" will pull out the same arguments should this lease be snapped up by a half decent retailer (Primark???) and try and stop it from ever taking off, claiming "shifts to the centre of York" like they did 11 years ago with Coppergate II!

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micky moodys hat says...
4:53pm Sat 28 Apr 12

Just put a bulldozer through the office block and all the hotch potch of other buildings down there and start from scratch. The castle car park can then be left alone, as can the area round cliffords tower. Build units that face out over the foss, and front them with a boardwalk and make a resteraunt/bar area. The shop fronts onto the road could be filled with small specialist shops antiques or collectables maybe.

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Mr Crabtree says...
9:34pm Sat 28 Apr 12

Sage9 wrote:
sheps lad wrote: Great minds think alike? Who are you kidding?
Two minds, one thought = both half wits.
What do you call a councillor with half a brain ?

Gifted....... ? !!!

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Ignatius Lumpopo says...
12:09pm Sun 29 Apr 12

I'm looking for a place to sell 90 year old York trams. This place looks ideal.

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YorkToff says...
1:24pm Sun 29 Apr 12

'erm York is crying out for more affordable housing not shops that will not succeed.

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Vinnielou says...
3:02pm Sun 29 Apr 12

YorkToff wrote:
'erm York is crying out for more affordable housing not shops that will not succeed.
Even Affordable Housing is affordable in york, weve had to scrape together 24K for a deposit on a shared ownership scheme.... I think its about time a primark opened up. They always have great footfall with sales due to fair prices

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Vinnielou says...
3:03pm Sun 29 Apr 12

Sorry that was supposed to say "Even Affordable housing isn't affordable in York"

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TERRIER3 says...
7:36pm Sun 29 Apr 12

primark fair prices? its cheap cos its crap, market stall quality under a roof, you buy cheap you buy twice, ah say buy cheap you buy twice......

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Jam tomorrow says...
8:36pm Sun 29 Apr 12

Was this the building where Neville Shute set up "Airspeed", the aircraft manufacturer in the 1930s?

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kimz89 says...
9:17am Mon 30 Apr 12

we really need a primark, york would make a fortune with it, especially with all the tourists that come here!

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meme says...
10:50am Mon 30 Apr 12

How times change
This was going to be a transport interchange with affordable housing above! its fallen into rack and ruin over many years and who is to blame for that?
In addition saying its for John Lewis is loony. Its nothing like the size they want so what cloud are our politicians living on/ Do they realise the size of the new JL store!
Anyway its OUR money!

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stuteman says...
11:11am Mon 30 Apr 12

Great idea. It is presently an eyesore. Better shops than the way it is.

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ycfcdk says...
12:02pm Mon 30 Apr 12

A bike shed would be ideal here, it would cut cyclist's using the city centre roads and footpaths, they could remove the current bike stations from the centre improving the look of the place with no piles of bike. but hey who am i kidding, this would'nt make the council money

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TerryYork says...
12:11pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Coun Gillies is the most laughable joke in this city. How on Earth did he get elected?

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TerryYork says...
12:13pm Mon 30 Apr 12

lezyork1966 wrote:
i dont think the lines are still in, it was a 'lazer quest' thing in the mid 90's i went once, wasnt a patch on the one under the mecca
Yeah, I remember that. The Mecca one was amazing, as you say.

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Magicman! says...
12:29am Wed 2 May 12

It's an old tram shed... on it's own it does not offer anywhere natthe retail space that York needs. Take a lookat what shops are closed down and empty, they're lots of small shop units which at best are spread on two floors. Both John Lewis and Primark have been wanting York stores for ages but both have said there is nowhere suitable. The last 'big shop' that came onto the market was the old Boots - and that wasn't big enough for a proper JL or Primark (the old Woolies might have been close if they'd gone onto a 2nd floor). Debenhams in the city centre is smaller than the one in Harrogate, and even our own local department store (Browns) is quite small in terms of floor space.

With the exception of the new offices on the St Denys Road side of the sreet and the Postern Gate at the other end, that whole end of piccadilly could be levelled and a 3 floor covered shopping area be built, with one level actually spanning over the road to connect with the redeveloped former tram shed site - which would probably have boutiques or shoe shops in.

York's shopping provision has been dying for years, and all the city centre traders who got the coppergate 2 scheme thrown out only worsened the effect... now these self same traders are suddenly saying we need a city centre development instead of monks cross. Well that boat sailed 10 years ago, and now the developers are building where there's less restrictions, so deal with it.

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