Approval nears for 17-storey Southampton scheme

Plans to redevelop a landmark building in Southampton and replace it with a 17-storey mixed-use scheme look set to secure approval next week.The Debenhams group occupied the Queensway site from 1928 until the retail chain collapsed into administration in 2020, and did not reopen after lockdown.Proposed is demolishing the store and redeveloping the site into a major mixed-use scheme.The residential element would comprise three blocks of six to 17 storeys made up of 607 apartments.These would sit above a pair of ground floor commercial units, as well as car parking and landscaping and public realm.The application has been amended to reduce the height of buildings facing East Street to seven storeys and, as a consequence, the number of apartments has been reduced by seven to 607.A report drawn up ahead of Southampton City Council’s planning committee meeting on 20 September noted that the proposal represents a “comprehensive high density residential-led development that will deliver strong and distinctive planning benefits”.”The loss of the existing department store building is unfortunate,” it added. “However, this needs be considered in the context of a declining retail market and retail shift towards the western side of the city centre and residential scheme options involving building retention have been explored and discounted on design and viability grounds.”The replacement building will have a high-quality architectural aesthetic appropriate for its context and would respond positively to the setting of the parks and the cityscape more generally.”