Debenhams Oxford – May 27th, 2024
These pictures show the current state of the Debenhams store in Oxford.
This will be the first development of those, that I talked about in Crown Estate To Spend £1.5bn On New Laboratories.
- I have deliberately shown pictures of the Junction, where the Debenhams building occupies the North-West corner.
- There is a Waterstones opposite the Debenhams building, on a busy junction between George and Magdalen Streets.
- There is a bus information display on the corner.
- There are a lot of chain eateries and a pub; the Wig & Pen.
These are a few thoughts.
Does the Debenhams Building Have Any Car Parking?
I would doubt it, but there may be a need to bring in large equipment.
Taxis To And From The Station
Note.
- I took a black taxi from the station to just outside the Debenhams building and it cost me the princely sum of £5,20.
- I also noted there was a rank at the rear of the building.
- In both locations, taxis were ready to roll.
That looked reasonable.
Buses To And From The Station
Staff at Oxford station, assured me that buses were available, but due to all the road works and Bank Holiday chaos, I suspect it could be improved, when the station upgrade is complete.
Walking To The Station
I took this second set of pictures as I walked from the Debenhams building back to the station.
Note.
- I walked from the junction by Debenhams, along George Street.
- It was a fairly straight line and level.
- There were no signposts between Debenhams and the station.
- There was quite a bit of blocked traffic.
- The route could do with some improvement like refurbished pavements and a few direction signs.
It took me about twenty-four minutes and at 76, I walked it easily.
On entering the station, I walked straight on to the platform for my train back to Reading, which was two minutes late.
Cycling
I suspect that many will cycle to work in the Debenhams building, as it is in Oxford.
But then, I suspect the Crown Estate, their architects and builders will know the appropriate provision to make.
Is The Debenhams Building At A Good Location?
When I was around 23, I used to reverse commute to ICI in Welwyn Garden City.
This involved.
- A ten-minute walk from St. John’s Wood to Chalk Farm tube station.
- A Northern Line train to King’s Cross station.
- A suburban train to Welwyn Garden City station.
- A fifteen-minute walk to my place of work.
St. John’s Wood to Oxford would involve.
- A fourteen-minute bus ride to St. Paddington station.
- A suburban train to Oxford station.
- A twenty-minute walk to my place of work.
A Brompton bicycle would help.
Knowing Cambridge as I do, the Debenhams building would be very well-located, if it were in Cambridge in a similar location, with respect to the railway station.
I feel that the Debenhams building passes the location test.
Crown Estate To Spend £1.5bn On New Laboratories
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These three paragraphs introduce the Crown Estate’s plan.
The Crown Estate is to spend £1.5 billion over the next decade building more laboratories nationwide and will start by redeveloping the old Debenhams store in Oxford city centre.
The King’s property company, which looks after the royal family’s £16 billion historic land portfolio, will invest £125 million to buy the former department store and will turn it into laboratory space.
The building has been empty for omore than three years, having closed down in early 2021 after Debenhams collapsed during the pandemic. The Crown has bought a long leasehold of the store from DTZ Investors, the freeholder, which is keeping the street-level retail units. Subject to planning, construction is expected to start at the site next year, with the labs expected to be fully operational in 2027 or 2028.
This looks very much like a smaller version of British Land’s plan for the Euston Tower, which I wrote about in British Land Unveils Plans To Transform London’s Euston Tower Into A Life Sciences And Innovation Hub.
These are my thoughts.
Helping Start-Ups
I have been involved with perhaps half a dozen start-up ventures. Two were very successful and the others generally scraped along or just failed.
One common theme, was the lack of small convenient premises, where perhaps up to a dozen people could work.
- I don’t know Oxford well, but I would assume that the Debenhams site, is good for public transport and cycle parking.
- I also hope there’s a good real ale pub nearby, for some productive group thinking!
If this venture from Crown Estate helps start-ups to get over the first difficult hurdle, then it will be a development to be welcomed.
Location, Location, Location
It has been said, that the three most important things in property development are location, location and location.
This 3D Google Map shows the approximate location of the Debenhams building.
Note.
- The red arrow indicates a pub called the Wig and Pen , which is on the opposite side of George Street to the Debenhams building.
- The railway with its excellent connections runs North-South down the Western edge of the map.
- I estimate that walking distance to the station is about 500-600 metres.
I shall be going to Oxford in the next couple of days to take some pictures of the building and the walk.
We Can’t Have Too Many Laboratories
The British and the sort of people we attract to these isles seem to be born innovators and inventors.
My father’s male line is Jewish and my paternal great-great-great-grandfather had to leave his home city of Königsberg in East Prussia for the sole reasons he was eighteen, male and Jewish. As both Königsberg and London, were on the trading routes of the Hanseatic League, he probably just got on a ship. As he was a trained tailor, he set up in business in Bexley.
My mother’s male line is Huguenot and somewhere in the past, one of her ancestors left France for England. My grandfather was an engraver, which is a common Huguenot craft. Intriguingly, my mother had very French brown eyes.
Why did my ancestors come here?
It was probably a choice between escape to the UK or die!
This Wikipedia entry, which us entitled History of the Jews in Königsberg, gives a lot of detail.
Note.
- My ancestor left Königsberg around 1800.
- He probably brought my coeliac disease with him.
- In 1942, many of the Jews remaining in Königsberg were sent to the Nazi concentration camps.
- About 2,000 Jews remain in Königsberg, which is now Kaliningrad in Russia.
I am an atheist, but some years ago, I did a computing job for a devout Orthodox Jewish oncologist and he felt my personal philosophy was very much similar to his.
This Wikipedia entry, which is entitled Huguenots, gives a brief history of the Huguenots.
Whatever you’re attitude to immigration, you can’t deny these facts.
- Immigration increases the population.
- As the population increases, we’re going to need more innovation to maintain a good standard of living.
- Just as we need more places to house immigrants, we also need more places, where they can work.
- Immigration brings in those with all types of morals, sexualities and intelligences.
- Like the Jews and Huguenots of over two centuries ago, some emigrants will dream of using their skills and intelligence to start a successful business.
- It is likely, that some immigrants, who came here to study, might also want to stay on and seek employment here, using the skills they’ve learned and acquired. Some may even start successful businesses.
I also wonder, if immigration is difficult, does this mean, that the intelligent and resourceful are likely to be successful migrants. I heard this theory from a Chinese lady, who started her immigration to the UK, by swimming from mainland China to Hong Kong.
I feel, that unless we are prepared to ban immigration completely, not allow students to come here and study and be prepared to accept our current standard of living for the future, then we will need more laboratories and suitable places for entrepreneurs to start new businesses.
Conclusion
The Crown Estate appears to be getting more entrepreneurial.
In UK Unveils GBP 50 Million Fund To Boost Offshore Wind Supply Chain, I describe how they6 are using funds to accelerate the building of wind farms in theCetic Sea.
Has the King changed the boss or the rules?
Or have they employed a world-class mathematical modeller?
It is my experience, that modelling financial systems, can bring surprising results.
The Anonymous Widower 