bel news V2 1/9/05 10:44 Page 2 belgradeplazanews coventry issue one Welcome to Belgrade Plaza News - with so much going on at Belgrade Plaza we have decided that timetable we would like residents and businesses in the city Temporary car park on former “ to be kept informed of our progress Coronet House open on site through a newsletter. August 05 Archaeological Dig ” Completion Autumn 05 Closure of Leigh Mills Car Park Autumn 05 Work start - Leigh Mills Car Park Autumn 05 Completion of Leigh Mills Car Park Summer 06 Phase II Courtyard site apartments and two bars start on site Plans for a new development on the site of The existing Leigh Mills Car Park will be Summer 06 the former Bond Street Car Park were first significantly extended and improved to provide discussed several years ago. almost 1,100 spaces, together with a new With the redevelopment of the Belgrade Theatre, management office, service Phase III main block it was seen as the perfect time to create an core and improved security features. Casino, two hotels further bars and exciting new residential, retail and leisure quarter Belgrade Plaza has been planned to form an restaurants and remainder of to act as a gateway to the city centre. attractive leisure quarter and a vibrant gateway residential start on site That is when our two companies - the Deeley to the city centre to complement the multi-million Group and Oakmoor Estates - joined together pound improvements to the Belgrade Theatre Autumn 06 as Oakmoor Deeley to put forward ideas for and link the site to the Precinct. the scheme. Since we announced these plans, we have As local companies we felt we were in a good held discussions with a series of operators - Completion Phase II position to put together a scheme which would including restaurants, bars and hotels - that bring a great deal to the city - and eventually have all expressed an interest in locating to Spring 08 we were appointed developers. the city centre because of the new scheme. Since then, our plans have evolved and Completion Phase III were given the go-ahead by councillors earlier “It’s is not only great this year and that has allowed things to move Autumn 08 on apace. news for us - it’s exciting The early stages of work have now begun on Belgrade Plaza including archaeological for everyone in Coventry.” surveys and the demolition of Coronet House. Hopefully this newsletter will give you an insight All enquiries All of this is to pave the way for one of to what has happened so far involving Belgrade the most important developments since the Plaza and what we hope to achieve in the rebuilding work in the city centre that followed future. Further newsletters will follow as the World War II. development progresses, but if you want to The 3.5 acre site between the ring road and the keep up with progress on a regular basis, Belgrade Theatre has been designed to include please visit our website at: two hotels - one budget and one luxury - more than 85,000 sq ft of leisure and retail units, www.belgradeplaza.co.uk a casino and residential units. The residential element will comprise around 357 apartments Mike Jones and Peter Deeley of which 63 will be affordable housing. The Oakmoor Deeley Partnership 024 7622 0444 city life just gets better bel news V2 1/9/05 10:44 Page 3 MIPIM In March of this year news round-up we struck lucky at one of Europe’s biggest development agreement property shows. Back in May, Belgrade Plaza was given the final go-ahead when Our £100 million project, which will we signed the development agreement with Coventry City Council. transform the 3.5-acre site between the ring road and the Belgrade Theatre, was the centrepiece of Coventry’s marketing push at MIPIM in France. It was our chance to really get the message out there to people that a great deal of positive work is taking place in the city. MIPIM is the premier international property show attracting 18,000 property professionals from 70 countries to Cannes over three days Pictured (from left): Councillor Dave Arrowsmith, Peter Deeley (Oakmoor Deeley), We took a scale model of the scheme to the Councillor Ken Taylor, Barry Leedham (Oakmoor Deeley). show and it proved a major draw and even caught the attention of the Deputy Prime This was basically the last legal step to allow Minister John Prescott, pictured below. work to begin on our new scheme on the site of the Bond Street Car Park. Leader of Coventry City Council, Councillor Ken Taylor said: We are committed to ensuring that Coventry continues to evolve and grow. Belgrade Plaza will provide a new and vibrant cultural and leisure “quarter that will breathe fresh life into the area by day and by night. “This is the next piece in the regeneration of our city centre and it fits perfectly with our plans for the Belgrade Theatre. I am delighted that it is now all systems go.” ” Pictured (from left): John Edwards and John Prescott working together At Oakmoor Deeley we are placing great emphasis on creativity within the city. To that end, we sponsored two events which created in partnership with Coventry schools helped the city come alive during the summer. and community groups. Belgrade Plaza was the chief sponsor for The events featured large-scale structures, both the stage area for the opening ceremony moving platforms, amazing costumes, 100 of the International Children’s Games and the drummers, choirs, aerialists, pyrotechnics and specialist international artists appearing on theatre performers. the day. Hamish Glen, of the Belgrade Theatre - We also sponsored the Godiva Carnival whose Events and Special Projects Team Procession on Saturday, July 9, which created and produced the ICG Opening attracted around 100,000 visitors to the Ceremony and the Godiva Carnival - said: city centre. “I am delighted that the excellent The games’ Opening Ceremony and the relationship between the theatre Godiva Carnival were the most ambitious and Oakmoor Deeley continues outdoor events that city artists have ever to thrive with this sponsorship”. “The Belgrade was excited to have been asked to put together the Opening Ceremony of the International Children’s Games, the most prestigious international sporting event taking place in Britain this year and again to mount the carnival, which for the first time joined forces with the Godiva Procession. Both events were highly successful”. We hope you all have happy memories of these events! bel news V2 1/9/05 10:45 Page 4 archaeological dig what’s happening on site now! Archaeologists hoping to discover secrets about People are welcome to visit the site and take advantage of seeing the work that is being Coventry’s past started work on our site in June. carried out, although for safety reasons you will not be allowed on the site. There will be viewing holes through the hoarding and regular Northamptonshire Archaeology began the updates of what has been revealed at the site. 17 week dig on the site to record the archaeology We are planning an open day and this will be of medieval Hill Street and Bond Street before posted on our website so please visit our construction programme begins. www.belgradeplaza.co.uk for regular updates At the corner of Hill Street and Ryley Street on how the work is progressing. Work is due the work is uncovering the remains of a house for completion Autumn 2005. which reached its greatest extent in the 1850s when it was inhabited by a Mr. Jacombs, a silk ribbon-weaver, but it may incorporate much earlier structural remains dating from competition the medieval period. Next door to this was a plot which was for a long time a garden. Guess how many However, beneath the buried garden shoes will have soil lie many pits which are the evidence for earlier rubbish disposal. been excavated The medieval city wall runs beneath by the end of Bond Street here linking the former gates at Hill Street and Upper Well August and win a Street. The wall has recently been half case of traced through the area of the adjacent Belgrade Theatre development. Champagne. Work is progressing well and already there have been several finds namely shoes, a jug and a pewter spoon. Email: [email protected] demolition Coronet House - no more! The clearest indication that work had begun at Belgrade Plaza was the demolition of Coronet House and in just a short period of time you will have noticed that this land has been turned into a temporary car park. Our demolition experts moved on site in July and took just a few days to knock-down the council building. “This is to off-set the problems for some people brought about by the necessary closure of Leigh Mills Car Park to allow the extensive refurbishment and extension works to be carried out safely which will be Tim Hurdiss (left) and Mike Jones in front of Coronet House before it was demolished. completed early next year”. We believe our development at Belgrade Plaza will fit in perfectly with the refurbishment that is taking place at the theatre nearby. theatre The £11m proposed plan to redevelop the The proposed scheme has been supported Belgrade Theatre includes a seven-storey with a funding package of £10m, including extension to create a new second auditorium £3.34m from Arts Council England's new with flexible staging and 250 – 300 seats. capital programme and £2.7m from Coventry Plans feature a new double-height glazed City Council.