Lewisham town centre’s new gateway open: Not exactly a buzzing start
Now that construction work has competed on Lewisham Gateway’s second phase a new pedestrian route from the railway and DLR station to the town centre is open.
But it’s hardly an exciting start as no commercial units are open in the central spine – and there’s still no cinema operator confirmed.
It’s also slim pickings when it comes to commercial units beside the bus stops though a planning application for Sainsbury’s has been approved.
As for other sites, there’s not much on the Lewisham planning website.
Of course it’d be silly to expect every unit to be occupied from day one, but nothing after a few months is disappointing.
Chains like Pret have opened recently but only in phase one – which saw empty commercial units for some years.
What Lewisham really lacks is much in the way of decent nightlife – and there’s little sign of that happening here.
Even a decent pub or bar would be a welcome arrival – and particularly somewhere focused on live music.
Residential units put paid to anything opening late but one lives in hope even something open until 11pm-midnight may be possible.
But alas, no sign at all of that. Nor any decent places to eat in.
So for now it’s a ghost town. In the near future it doesn’t look like becoming more exciting than seeing a Sainsbury’s Local.
If a site of high density housing beside a very busy railway & DLR station (and town centre) can’t do better than this, something is very wrong.
It depends on the rent and the conditions of the lease. Footfall will be low – as with the recent M&S closure at Canary Wharf the location is a rat-run towards the railway station, and there’s little reason to linger. Unlike More London, there’s no park or riverside nearby, nor heavy office presence, so they’ll need to rely on local trade, heavily. I don’t see any exhaust or ventilation system exhausts and that’s a shame – a Korean or Southern BBQ/smokehouse place could be extremely popular, and the smell alone would go a long way towards getting customers in. Most entrepreneurs will take a risk on a store front that can be seen in daylight, but a narrow, sunless corridor is difficult unless the USP is a pub.
I’m surprised you suggested an operator that can stay open until late, as that’s last thing the majority of residents will want.
11pm isn’t that late. I dunno who moves into town centre locations above commercial spaces and wouldn’t expect that.
I thought some of the retailers cutently in the Lewisham Shopping Centre may have temporary relocated to other empty units in the town centre why the Shopping Centre site was being redeveloped.
I agree with Charles rents play a major factor when retailers choosing locations to open new stores.
The majority of mixed residential/commercial developments normally have a convenience store or other stores or pubs for example which opens to 11pm at ground level.. As 11pm falls in line with noise abatement regulations.
Having all that retail space in somewhere like Lewisham, is folly. This was a slow build and the developers should have been able to pivot at some point to the post-pandemic trading conditions that has seen even more of a decline in retailing.
Back on my hobby horse, why not move the central library to the Gateway? Yes, I know rents are high but Lewisham are already selling their Hither Green library archive site, so why not sell off the central library too? Wrong building – numerous structural issues – and wrong place, too far from the centre of things. Given the almost non-existent take-up of rental space, might not the developers be willing to strike a deal?
I agree with ‘Another local resident’ – such a good idea to have the main Borough library here at the centre of things and where it’s archive can be easily accessed.
Such a move might prompt the Royal Borough of Greenwich to follow suit in finding a town centre location to house its extensive archive collection – currently only available in makeshift temporary, relatively hard to access, accommodation and only at limited times.