Plans for redevelopment of historic city centre site show it could include an 11-storey tower block

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

The latest plans for a scheme to redevelop a historic part of Cardiff city centre show that it could include a large red-bricked 11-storey tower block.

Plans to redevelop the former Howells department store in St Mary Street into apartments, offices, restaurants, and bars were revealed in 2023.

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Chapel

Parts of the project, including the restoration of the 200-year old Bethany Chapel, have already been approved.

However the final phases are yet to be given the go-ahead.

A new document on the design of the project recently published on Cardiff Council’s website shows what the 11-storey building proposed for the middle of the site could look like.

Cardiff Civic Society objected to the plans early in 2025, saying the proposed new building would “dwarf the adjacent listed buildings”.

Howells has a history in Cardiff’s high street stretching back to the 1860s. That history as a working department store came to an end in March 2023.

The developers are proposing to retain the Grade II*-listed store and other historic buildings that make up the footprint of the site.

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Demolished

However other structures in the middle that developers deem to “make no or limited contribution to the special character” of the site are proposed to be demolished.

This would make way for a new public square and the new 11-storey building housing 105 apartments.

Cardiff Civic Society’s objection letter to the council added: “This is a damaging, inappropriate, and insensitive proposal that will severely impair the historic fabric of one of the city’s focal points – one tourists and other visitors view and admire.

“The tower will be an eyesore when viewed from numerous points, including Cardiff Castle, St Mary Street, and the medieval St John’s Church.

“Statutory protections exist to protect important historic areas of the city from such a scheme.

“This proposal should be turned down, as extremely important listed buildings and their settings will be irrevocably harmed.”

The applicants, TE Cardiff 7 Ltd, have developed a retention strategy for historic buildings that they said has been “firmed up in collaboration with officers from Cardiff Council and Cadw”.

A design and access statement from the developers states the proposed new buildings and public realm seek to perpetuate and re-assert the heritage and character of the area.

The report adds the masterplan seeks to retain “the most significant built forms in their entirety” including the St Mary Street building, the Percy Thomas corner building, and the old chapel and Sunday school.

The Trinity Street frontage, much of which is being retained, will house 89 new apartments.

Plans for the redeveloped site also show that it will include more than 4,000sqm of commercial space and a new hotel with 114 rooms.