Dolphin Centre 'not actively for sale'

FUTURE:  One of the drawings of  proposed changes to the Falkland Square entrance to The Dolphin Shopping Centre FUTURE: One of the drawings of proposed changes to the Falkland Square entrance to The Dolphin Shopping Centre

THE owners of Poole’s Dolphin Centre insist their multi-million pound revamp plans are still on track – despite speculation they could sell up.

Dutch property company Wereldhave say they will press on with their £6.5million proposals to rejuvenate the Dolphin Centre, Kingland Crescent and Falkland Square but admit they are seeking a partner to help with finance.

It has been reported that Wereldhave are keen to sell the Dolphin Centre, which it acquired in 2010 for £85m, and its other shopping centre at Ealing Broadway.

But the company has said that while it would consider a sale if the prices were right, the properties were not being actively marketed.

Richard Beentjes, a spokesman for Wereldhave, said: “We do have two shopping centres and they need attention, especially Poole. We will consider all strategic options for the two shopping centres including strengthening our own organisation, seeking potential joint venture partners and a full sale of the malls.

“We are contacting a select number of parties to see if they are interested in a joint venture. The properties are not for sale. We will consider all strategic options and if someone provides a tempting offer, we will consider it.”

And John Laker, the MD of Wereldhave UK, said: “We are carrying on at the moment with implementing the ideas that we have, nothing is stopping in that respect.

“It doesn’t mean that nothing will happen until this is resolved, this will go on in parallel with implementing the proposals we have already come up with.

“We also have some other ideas which will further improve the offer in the centre and make it we believe a much better centre for Poole.”

He said there was “no problem” with financing the Poole scheme in the short-term, but that longer-term, Wereldhave was looking for a partner.

The Hague-based business said in 2010 it wanted to double the size of its portfolio in the UK but its retail assets have dropped in value and it is now selling its non-core assets in the UK.

Comments(21)

rudolph_hucker says...
10:20am Mon 12 Nov 12

It's tatty, outdated, and no matter what refurbishment is done, the Internet, high rents & business rates are slowly killing off this centre.

Letcommonsenseprevail says...
12:37pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Never gonna happen. You only have to walk a short distance down the high street to see what a sorry state Poole is in. Cheap shops, empty shops, very dirty. Multi-million pound investment could pull the shoppers in, but we are talking on a scale way past what our short-sighted councillors and planners could ever handle.

HRH of Boscombe says...
3:33pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Letcommonsenseprevai
l
wrote:
Never gonna happen. You only have to walk a short distance down the high street to see what a sorry state Poole is in. Cheap shops, empty shops, very dirty. Multi-million pound investment could pull the shoppers in, but we are talking on a scale way past what our short-sighted councillors and planners could ever handle.
Agree. How much rates will the council pull in when the high street shuts to online retailers? Who'll pick up the shortfall?

SeafaringMan says...
4:44pm Mon 12 Nov 12

HRH of Boscombe wrote:
Letcommonsenseprevai

l
wrote:
Never gonna happen. You only have to walk a short distance down the high street to see what a sorry state Poole is in. Cheap shops, empty shops, very dirty. Multi-million pound investment could pull the shoppers in, but we are talking on a scale way past what our short-sighted councillors and planners could ever handle.
Agree. How much rates will the council pull in when the high street shuts to online retailers? Who'll pick up the shortfall?
Us - of course!

SeafaringMan says...
4:45pm Mon 12 Nov 12

HRH of Boscombe wrote:
Letcommonsenseprevai

l
wrote:
Never gonna happen. You only have to walk a short distance down the high street to see what a sorry state Poole is in. Cheap shops, empty shops, very dirty. Multi-million pound investment could pull the shoppers in, but we are talking on a scale way past what our short-sighted councillors and planners could ever handle.
Agree. How much rates will the council pull in when the high street shuts to online retailers? Who'll pick up the shortfall?
Us - of course!

boyerboy says...
4:55pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Very sad, I worked in the High street in the late 1960`s ....two way traffic, it was a vibrant area then. now we have high parking costs, poor access and tat.....try looking above the shop fronts in the high street, most buildings require considerable investment just to safeguard the buildings from decay.......

Did the Arndale/Dolphin really help the residents of Poole????...and as for the Bus station........

boyerboy says...
4:55pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Very sad, I worked in the High street in the late 1960`s ....two way traffic, it was a vibrant area then. now we have high parking costs, poor access and tat.....try looking above the shop fronts in the high street, most buildings require considerable investment just to safeguard the buildings from decay.......

Did the Arndale/Dolphin really help the residents of Poole????...and as for the Bus station........

RageAgainstTheMachine says...
5:05pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Anybody know what the very large shop is going to be in Falkland square?
It is the old Mothercare shop and the corner old tat shop.Borough plans state 10 full time workers and 5 part time workers.........My money is on a Tesco express or Lidl?

Wallisdown says...
5:17pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Its not so much the look of the Dolphin centre but more the type of shops its got in it. Anyone with more than a fiver to spend will simply go elsewhere. Personally there's not a single item of clothing I'd buy in Poole town centre, its also an awful place for holidaying famalies with a wide selection of tracksuits being wore by chavy teenagers and single mums pushing their screaming offspring round. Knock the whole thing down and build a park!

GAHmusic says...
5:48pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Sounds like Bournemouth and unfortunately it is the public face of this recession as after all if there was money to be made by people operating these fancy retail outlets they wouldn't need perseuding. Maybe the owner would better spend the £65 mil helping small businesses to start up and thrive in their retail units

Yankee1 says...
6:16pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Who would want to buy it?

Yankee1 says...
6:16pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Who would want to buy it?

Yankee1 says...
6:17pm Mon 12 Nov 12

HRH of Boscombe wrote:
Letcommonsenseprevai

l
wrote:
Never gonna happen. You only have to walk a short distance down the high street to see what a sorry state Poole is in. Cheap shops, empty shops, very dirty. Multi-million pound investment could pull the shoppers in, but we are talking on a scale way past what our short-sighted councillors and planners could ever handle.
Agree. How much rates will the council pull in when the high street shuts to online retailers? Who'll pick up the shortfall?
Those who pay council tax.

Yankee1 says...
6:19pm Mon 12 Nov 12

boyerboy wrote:
Very sad, I worked in the High street in the late 1960`s ....two way traffic, it was a vibrant area then. now we have high parking costs, poor access and tat.....try looking above the shop fronts in the high street, most buildings require considerable investment just to safeguard the buildings from decay.......

Did the Arndale/Dolphin really help the residents of Poole????...and as for the Bus station........
And the fact that pedestrians have two wait for a train to pass to get to the shops.

Why not a pedestrian underpass? Most Poole denizens look as though the Victorian stairs are a bridge too far.....

manyogie says...
7:04pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Poole, along with many other towns, is'nt dying on it's feet due to ugly buildings, it's down to lack of choice, everyones been milking the chain stores pockets for so long now, the upcomings dont get a look in.
Bring back Butchers, fruit n veg shops, bakers etc,
Or do the big four have caviats with their out of town rents that activly discourage Councils allowing lower rates for smaller businesses.
It is required now for every large housing developement to provide social housing, so, why not extend that to shopping areas too, affordable, local producers are catered for?

jaylmerb says...
11:40pm Mon 12 Nov 12

RageAgainstTheMachin
e
wrote:
Anybody know what the very large shop is going to be in Falkland square?
It is the old Mothercare shop and the corner old tat shop.Borough plans state 10 full time workers and 5 part time workers.........My money is on a Tesco express or Lidl?
It will be a Poundland store.
But does anyone know whether this will be in addition to, or a replacement for, the current branch (beside KFC)?

yesitsmeagain says...
6:19am Tue 13 Nov 12

i still call it the arndale center lol

BIGTONE says...
7:46am Tue 13 Nov 12

RageAgainstTheMachin
e
wrote:
Anybody know what the very large shop is going to be in Falkland square?
It is the old Mothercare shop and the corner old tat shop.Borough plans state 10 full time workers and 5 part time workers.........My money is on a Tesco express or Lidl?
A Mosque.

Dorset Logic says...
8:09am Tue 13 Nov 12

Roll it in glitter - that may help

Dorset Logic says...
8:15am Tue 13 Nov 12

I feel the pictures are lacking in people with baseball caps and trekky bottoms to be an accurate projection of Poole

Letcommonsenseprevail says...
7:05pm Tue 13 Nov 12

Dorset Logic wrote:
I feel the pictures are lacking in people with baseball caps and trekky bottoms to be an accurate projection of Poole
Don't forget the double push-chairs!

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