The former Sainsbury’s site on Shaftesbury Street is still earmarked as one of Newport’s most significant regeneration opportunities, but it has not yet been redeveloped. The site has been empty for 15 years. Councillors and residents have expressed considerable frustration regarding the lack of development and the impact on the quality of life locally.
Here’s where things stand:
Current position
The old supermarket has been demolished and the site cleared. It is owned by Fear Capital Investments, which has been marketing it as a mixed-use development opportunity.
What has been proposed?
Over the years, plans have included a substantial mixed-use scheme comprising:
- Around 140 residential apartments
- Up to 601 student bedrooms
- An 84-bedroom hotel
- Small retail units
- Cafés and restaurants
- Health and community facilities
- Public riverside space overlooking the River Usk
Those proposals received planning permission in an earlier form but were never built. The current owners are promoting the site for redevelopment, subject to updated planning proposals and market demand.
What does the council want?
Newport City Council continues to identify the site as a strategic brownfield regeneration location.
The adopted Local Development Plan allocates it for approximately 140 homes, including affordable housing, and the city’s investment prospectus highlights it as a prime gateway site close to:
- Newport railway station (about a four-minute walk),
- the University of South Wales campus,
- the city centre,
- and the River Usk.
Why hasn’t anything happened?
Several factors appear to have slowed progress:
- The original student accommodation proposal became less attractive after changes to university demand in Newport.
- Large mixed-use schemes have faced challenging financing conditions in recent years.
- Developers have been reassessing the best mix of residential, hotel, office and leisure uses before committing to construction.
This pattern isn’t unique to Newport; many city-centre brownfield sites across the UK have experienced similar delays since rising construction costs and higher interest rates affected development viability.
The site has also attracted criticism because it has remained vacant for around 15 years and has suffered repeated fly-tipping. The Fear Group has said it has spent significant sums clearing waste while maintaining that it still intends to see the site redeveloped when market conditions allow.
Compelling public interest
There is a compelling public interest to develop this site at the moment
The redevelopment could deliver clear public benefits, such as:
housing (especially affordable housing), city-centre regeneration, improving public realm, and addressing a long-term derelict site.