The former Matalan site in Stevenage has long been identified by Stevenage Borough Council for suitable redevelopment as part of their 20-year £1bn regeneration programme designed to redevelop and improve the town’s existing central areas. The scheme is being bought forward by the Guinness Partnership, a nationwide Registered Provider of social housing and one of England’s largest Housing Associations.
The project has planning permission to provide 526 new homes including both family and affordable homes across a mix of tenures – Affordable Rent, Shared Ownership and Open market sale with the first phase consisting of the construction of two residential buildings including 89 Shared Ownership and 54 Affordable Rent apartments.
We were delighted to be appointed as Cost Consultants (Quantity Surveyors) in August 2020 to assist with taking the design through from RIBA Stage 2 to Procurement. Following detailed RIBA Stage 4 design development, the former Matalan store has been demolished along with removal of the car park surface and obstructions in order to de-risk the site prior to construction.
The project is currently in the process of being tendered with the Main Contract due to commence on site in Q4 2022.
Core Five Added Value
A key part of our philosophy is to be an active team player that helps ensure the successful delivery of each and every one of our projects. We recognise that control of the construction cost is only part of the cost manager’s role. Enhancing the value of the development and managing our Client’s exposure to risk are similarly critical. Our advice is prepared with this in mind. Some key successes in adding value to the Matalan Stevenage project include;
• Improved overall NIA:GIA by 4% achieved, thereby improving rental/sales value whilst maintaining GIA
• Reduced average apartment size by 23ft² to align with national space standards whilst maintaining the overall number of apartments
• c. £3.6m of Value Engineering achieved pre-contract
• £10ft² reduction in £/ft² NIA achieved pre-contract
