Former House of Fraser to be converted into multi-million-pound retail destination

The former House of Fraser department store in Richmond has been granted permission to be repurposed into a multi-million-pound retail and leisure destination.

The building is due to be vacated in September 2020 by House of Fraser, as Mike Ashley continues to scale back the company's portfolio.

The mixed-use redevelopment project at the 80 George Street store has been approved by London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Council, after plans were submitted last year.

In the proposals, the vision statement reads: "our vision is to breathe new life into the site by proposing a sensitively designed scheme which secures the building’s future as an anchor in Richmond Town Centre."

Plans include to:

• Increase the amount of shop frontage and refurbishing the facade to help enhance the appearance of this a part of Richmond Town Centre.
• Reconfigure the floorplans to provide modern retail and commercial space whilst utilising and retaining most of the existing building structure.
• The existing building is not sustainable and inefficient to run, largely due to poor insulation and outdated heating. A range of improvements to make the building more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
• To improve the appearance of the frontages on Golden Court and Paved Court, whilst generating footfall and helping to support local businesses.

The top four floors of the building will provide 42,000 sq ft of office space, with 22,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space being retained on the first two floors of the premises.

The project has an estimated completion time of approximately 12 months after works start on site.