First Commercial Tenant
18 Feb 2014
Prestigious lifestyle brand, Evans Cycles, selects Westlegate Tower in Norwich as location for first East of England store
FW Properties has today announced the signing of its first commercial tenant within the soon to be completed Westlegate Tower development in Norwich city centre. Evans Cycles will be moving in to the ground floor and part of the basement of the tower, providing customers with sales space for up to 200 different bicycles for cyclists of all ages and abilities, and a vast range of clothing, parts and accessories. The letting signs Evans Cycles up for a ten year lease with a five year rent review at an initial rent of £90,000 per annum.
Norwich is East Anglia’s leading regional retail centre, and is ranked 10th in the UK by CACI Retail Footprint (2011). Westlegate Tower is situated on a prime pedestrian link between John Lewis and the main retail centre of the city.
The £8m transformation of the tower block formerly known as Westlegate House into Westlegate Tower will be complete by late Spring/early summer 2014. Working in partnership with Soho Estates, FW Properties has created a unique development of 17 luxury apartments plus two townhouses and three commercial units in the former office building and historic site around it. With a total floor space of 5,000 square feet, the finished Evans Cycles store will include a fully glazed shop front spanning the width of the tower.
Evans Cycles was established in 1921 and dominates the London cycling market. The company has expanded up through England into Scotland and across to Plymouth but Norwich will be its first foray into the East of England.
James Duguid, store design and development manager at Evans Cycles says: “The cycling industry has seen fantastic growth over the last few years, as a core part of the green economy and people’s desire to leave cars behind. When we are researching new locations for our stores we look at a wide variety of factors. The quality of cycling available in and around a city is key to us, in addition to it having an established community of cyclists. Our database already shows that a large number of our online customers come from Norfolk so providing these people with a shop to visit is a natural step for Evans Cycles.
“When we’re selecting premises for our stores we prefer to go for interesting new developments where we can be flexible and imaginative in our designs,” continues James. “The regeneration of Westlegate Tower and the surrounding buildings is bringing a whole new dimension to Norwich and we are extremely pleased to be part of this. Where else would you find an historic, thatched building sitting comfortably alongside a 13 story tower block? The successful mix of old and new that FW Properties has achieved is really appealing to us as a business.”
Ian Fox of FW Properties said:
“Working with Soho Estates, we’re creating a new, vibrant, mixed-use residential and commercial quarter in Norwich. Evans Cycles’ decision to select Westlegate Tower as its Norwich home is a fantastic endorsement of the appeal the development has to prestigious, lifestyle brands. We’re confident that we will be able to attract complementary tenants of a similar high quality to the remaining commercial units within the development.”
Once the Westlegate Tower development nears completion, FW Properties will be offering for sale the investment of the Evans Cycles lease. McMullen Wilson represented Evans Cycles and Francis Darrah Chartered Surveyors acted for the vendor.
Francis Darrah Chartered Surveyors are currently marketing two additional commercial premises as part of the development. 20 Westlegate is the listed building adjacent to Westlegate Tower. The 16th century, thatched property has been sensitively extended and now features 2,000 square feet of restaurant or café space. In addition, FW Properties has created a new commercial unit on Timberhill offering 1,600 square feet of retail space on one of Norwich’s most attractive pedestrianised streets.
For more information about commercial space with the Westlegate Tower development please call Francis Darrah Chartered Surveyors on 01603 666630 or email francis@fdarrah.co.uk.
Press contact
For further information please contact Pippa Lain or Amber Davis at Plain Speaking PR Ltd.
Tel: 01603 487291
Email: pippa@plainspeakingpr.co.uk / amber@plainspeakingpr.co.uk
