Lower Precinct, Coventry

The Lower Precinct and Market at Coventry were built as part of the redevelopment of the city after extensive wartime bombing. Together with the other parts of the shopping precinct, they form one of the most famous pedestrianised shopping schemes of their period.

By 1997, when the Vixcroft team was appointed to undertake its re-purposing, Lower Precinct had suffered from decades of neglect.

The Lower Precinct refurbishment was a complex restoration. The structure was modified to insert two new anchor stores and attracted retailers new to Coventry to take units in the Precinct, thus improving the city’s status as a retail destination.

The re-purposing of the Precinct achieved a fourfold increase in rental values and a doubling of its valuation multiplier which in total amounted to an increased capital value of circa £45m.

Key Facts

• Development Agreement with Coventry City Council concluded October 1997
• Groundbreaking 2nd May 2000, completed 2002
• Total Development Cost £35m
• Lettable Area 227,000 square feet
• Anchor stores*: H&M, Next, Uniqlo, Littlewoods,TJ Hughes, Sainsbury’s Local - all new to Coventry
• 34 Unit shops
• Complete refurbishment of Coventry’s indoor market (one of the largest indoor markets in the UK) and creation of a new market linking Lower Precinct to the Market to enable it to drive footfall and act as an additional anchor to the development
• Prime Zone A rents move from £35 to £135 as a consequence of the development
• Project undertaken in partnership with Coventry City Council and funded by Royal London Insurance
• The completed project raised Coventry’s performance in the hierarchy of retail centres, reducing expenditure leakage to neighbouring centres
• Both architecturally and locationally, the development has created a sustainable, quality investment that will stand the test of time.The project won the BCSC Refurbishment Award 2003 against stiff competition.