Location

Summary

Situation

Description

Redevelopment of the former Debenhams site

The former Debenhams department store immediately adjacent the subject property was acquired by Torbay Council and in November 2023 they formed a Regeneration Partnership with developers Milligan and Willmott Dixon to redevelop the site.

The scheme is expected to significantly transform Torquay’s harbourside. It will be a mixed-used scheme that stretches from 7-14 The Strand and links the harbourside with The Terrace.

£2 million of Towns Funding has been allocated to the project and the Council is investing around £5 million of funding from their Growth Fund. Private sector investment will also help deliver the scheme.

The project will create a vibrant, high-quality destination offering employment opportunities across a range of sectors and providing new town centre living opportunities. It will complement and enhance the Council’s wider public realm works.

Having already acquired the Debenhams site, the Council are now in the process of acquiring the other buildings it needs to undertake the scheme which include six properties on The Terrace, behind the old department store. This will then allow developers to move quickly with the new development.

Broader Regeneration Initiatives

The transformation of the former Debenhams site is a key component of a larger investment by Torbay Council, supplemented by £21.9 million or funding from the government’s Towns Fund, aimed at revitalizing The Strand and harbourside areas.

The first of the Town Deal projects that has been delivered is the £4 million newly created public realm space at Torquay’s harbourside. The Strand, which was previously dominated by public transport, now sees buses permanently relocated. Boasting a Piazza-style promenade with the harbour ‘opened up’ with new paving, trees and benches, the new look harbourside is part of the community led redesign to encourage more people to visit and dwell in the area.

Another flagship project is the redevelopment of Union Square Shopping Centre which has £11 million of Town Deal funding allocated to it and will be complimented by further public and private sector investment. In October 2024 the Council shared their design proposal that will be taken forward for full planning consent, anticipated to be in the first half of 2025. The project will include demolishing the existing shopping centre while retaining the current multi-storey car park, creating new, high-quality homes, retail spaces, leisure facilities, public areas, and an NHS centre.