With a velodrome and new restaurant under construction and an office development, a hotel-apartment complex and the Plaza leisure scheme to emerge next year, Pride Park is coming alive. Oliver Astley discusses the evolution of a business park that transformed Derby forever.
IT has been an exciting year for Pride Park. The business park has tens of millions of pounds worth of development projects either on the ground or in the pipeline.
Work on the velodrome is the largest and most significant scheme to be undertaken since the Roundhouse was purchased and renovated by Derby College.
The velodrome is by far the most impressive structure to emerge from Pride Park since the construction of the stadium and is Derby's new multi-sports arena. Being built by Heage construction firm Bowmer and Kirkland – also responsible for the Roundhouse – it will feature a 250m cycling track, a sports surface large enough for 12 badminton courts and a 1.5km closed cycle circuit.
It will have the capacity to be used as a concert venue with room for 5,000 people.
By June, 1,303 piles had been driven into the ground and in recent weeks, the steelwork has been giving shape to the structure.
Work is progressing quickly and by early September 1,700 tonnes of steel will form the main structure of the donut-shaped building.
It will become one of the nation's first large-scale Olympic legacy projects, measuring 156,000 sq ft.
Funded by Derby City Council and Sport England with support from British Cycling, it is hoped that the venue will replicate the success of Manchester's velodrome.
The economic benefits of the £27.5 million project prior to the London Olympics were disputed but cycling is a boom industry with Derby firms such as Moore Large and Mercian Cycles racking up significant sales.
There are dozens of cycling and triathlon clubs within an hour's drive of the velodrome and such a facility has the potential to benefit Pride Park enormously.
It is a punt but an educated one at that and the timing has dovetailed with the nation's increased interest in cycling since Great Britain established its dominance on the track in Beijing. We have had more success at the world championships, the London Olympics and two British winners of the Tour de France.
There are five-a-side football pitches and gyms such as David Lloyd, the DW Sports Fitness Centre and Funktion Fitness, but Pride Park is largely deserted in the evenings and needs a richer leisure offering.
The velodrome project is already proving a catalyst for further leisure investment.
Seeing the steelwork go up has proved to be the trigger to secure occupiers to the first phase of the £7 million Plaza@Pride Park project.
The development is being undertaken by Derby County Football Club and city developer Cedar House Investments, which is part of Peter Gadsby's Ark Capital Group.
Three occupiers have been secured for the first phase of the development that will be built at the north-east corner of the stadium, close to the club shop.
Between them, they will take around 7,000 sq ft of space and will create as many as 25 jobs.
Cedar House Investments – among the first companies to see the potential in Pride Park and invest in the mid 1990s – is also engaged in a new office scheme being developed in Hudson Way.
At The Point Office Village in the past couple of years, it has designed and built offices for Porterbrook Leasing, Lloyds Register Rail and Software AG.
The latest development demonstrates that there is still demand for high-profile new office space on Pride Park, a fact that is likely to have a positive impact on what little land remains available.
The office market has taken a battering since the financial crisis but throughout the downturn, there has been continued activity on Pride Park.
Texan engineering giant Cameron decided to locate its new office on Pride Park, rail firm Interfleet Technology has taken additional space, rail leasing firm Angel Trains is expanding its Derby satellite office as is rolling stock monitoring firm MRX Technologies.
There are thousands of people now working on the business park and as success breeds success, the Millhouse Group is planning to invest a seven-figure sum to build a hotel-apartment project.
The Castle Donington firm has purchased the necessary land at City Point and intends to start construction this autumn.
Close to the Audi garage, the building is likely to be completed by spring next year and will create up to 15 jobs for cleaners, receptionists and management.
Branded Luxe Budget, it will target both the business and leisure market with 21 self-contained flats, each with a kitchen and bathroom.
Although Pride Park is well served for hotel rooms with the Ramada Encore, the Holiday Inn and Travelodge, the Millhouse Group believes that there is enough business to go around and a gap in the market for its product.
Like hotel rooms, serviced hotel apartments can be booked for just a night or several months.
The company was prompted to invest by the buoyancy and optimism in and around the city.
Although Pride Park has been a significant business destination since the late 90s there are still gaps in the market. One is for a good-quality restaurant, a requirement that will be filled this autumn when the establishment to be called Seven will open.
