COUNCIL CONFIRMS TIMETABLE FOR REGENERATION OF PARK STREET CAR PARK

13th September 2021

A TIMETABLE for the regeneration of Park Street car park has been confirmed by Cambridge City Council.

The council advised stakeholders about the new timetable earlier this week at a meeting of Park Street Liaison Group, which involves councillors and representatives of local businesses and residents.

The council with development partner Marick will, as previously announced, regenerate the site to deliver a premium aparthotel of 229 rooms, operated by the Staycity Wilde brand, above a modern basement car park with 225 public car parking spaces.

This will include Blue Badge parking, modern and flexible cycle parking (including cargo bike parking) and motorcycle parking. A public courtyard will link Park Street and Bridge Street.

The new car park will initially provide 10% of its spaces with electric vehicle charging points with the infrastructure put in place to expand this to 100% to meet future demand.

Responding to concerns over environmental performance, the new development will be operated by air source heat pump technology (using only electricity and not gas).

 To achieve the BREEAM environmental “Excellent” rating, there is a focus on reducing carbon emissions, specifying high performance construction materials and ecology best practices. Exemplary credits have been awarded, which include mechanical ventilation heat recovery, air source heat pumps and solar panels.

Work has been under way to establish a development programme to minimise disruption to local businesses and residents. The site logistics have been carefully planned to limit disruption to roads, pavements, traffic management and other factors associated with a development of this scale.

Key programme dates are:

• Planned demolition of the car park to commence in January 2022
• The new car park to re-open in August 2024
• The aparthotel and publicly accessible courtyard opening in March 2025

Some limited works will be carried out from this October including archaeological investigations, where the ground floor layout of the car park will be partially reconfigured.  The car park will remain open until 3 January 2022.

Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Executive Councillor for Planning and Transport, said: “The council and Marick have worked hard to ensure that residents, local businesses and other stakeholders have been consulted and listened to throughout this process, including through meetings of the Park Street Liaison Group.

“We are really pleased to be starting this important project which will support recovery, job creation and inward investment in the local economy. The new building also supports the council’s commitments to reach net zero carbon, by moving away from gas power and providing improved support for electric vehicles.”

Marcus Boret, Director of Marick, the development partner for the project said: “We thank the Local Planning Authority’s team who have worked closely with us to satisfy all pre-commencement conditions, and we are pleased to appoint Gilbert Ash as our construction partner to deliver this scheme.

“They have been specifically chosen for their expertise in this type of work, and track record in Cambridge, and other city centre developments.”

Simon Walford, Staycity’s Development Director, said: “We are delighted that following close consultation with all parties this project now has a detailed development plan and timetable which we hope will cause minimum disruption to the surrounding area.

“As a company we are excited about bringing our Wilde brand to Cambridge, which we feel will fit into the city’s strong cultural and historic vibe as well as enhance and broaden its visitor accommodation offering.”