To help its bottom line, struggling UK retailer Tesco is planning to open up its parking lots and the space above its stores for new housing development.
As London struggles with a housing shortage, supermarket chain Tesco is offering up a solution to provide more housing, while also shoring up its own finances. Ashley Armstrong of The Telegraph reports that the retailer is planning to sell off air rights above its stores and in its parking lots for new housing development, a plan that analysts say could net the company £1.5 billion.
Val Bagnall of Apex Housing Group said supermarkets were talking about air rights as a way to “sweat their assets”. “It not only shifts the burden of roof maintenance costs on to a developer but could also be a significant income driver.
“There are also plenty of superstore car parks which sit empty when the shop is closed and could be better used. For Tesco, it could generate huge financial value,” Mr Bagnall added.
Armstrong reports that new developments in London at Tesco and other stores could create 180,000 housing units.
Read the full story: Tesco Towers: supermarket enters the fray with a radical new solution to the housing crisis
UK Election May Turn on Housing
While Brexit is the main focus of upcoming British elections, the skyrocketing cost of housing is also gaining attention.
Friday Eye Candy: Historic London Visualized
Historic London collects panoramic views of modern London streets with historic photos transposed over them. Most of the views date from the first two decades of the 20th century.
Designing the Shadow-less Skyscraper
Architects at NBBJ in London have designed a building—two buildings rather—that work together to cancel out the shadows they cast.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
HUD modernizes 50-year-old manufactured housing framework
The Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan establishes new energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and new guidelines for anchoring them.
After $600,000 wasted, CA high-speed rail board limits CEO’s power
Ian Choudri will no longer be able to sign, change or manage contracts.
Lithium mines leech water from surrounding communities. Soon, they’ll run dry
Researchers concluded that most lithium mines won't have enough water to meet industry demands by 2050.
El Niño takes lives, infrastructure as U.S. storm systems prove ill-prepared
About two-thirds of America's culverts are in states with outdated design standards.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority