Plans to knock down parts of The Oracle in Reading town centre and replace it with 449 flats and new retail spaces have progressed to application stage.
Hammerson, the company which owns shopping and leisure complex, has teamed up with build-to-rent company Packaged Living to transform parts of the Riverside area into a place to live.
The two companies have formed The Oracle Limited Partnership.
Although plans were submitted to the council in late December, they were not available to view as application reference numbers had not been generated. This has now changed.
The applications are divided between the plans north and south of the River Kennet.
North of the river has been called Yield Hall Place 1, and south of the river is Yield Hall Place 2.
Under the plans, the Vue Cinema and five restaurant units will be demolished and replaced with a multi-storey building. This would contain 247 build-to-rent apartments, 3,046sq m of commercial floorspace including a cinema and ground floor space for cafes, restaurants and bars.
Yield Hall Place 2 would comprise 117 one-bed, 98 two-bed, 10 three-bed and 22 studio apartments.
The would involve a partial demolition of the former Debenhams unit, replacing it with a new building that would contain 202 build to rent apartments.
Yield Hall Place 1 would contain 129 one-bed, 70 two-bed, two three-bed apartments and one studio flat.
The remainder of the Debenhams unit, currently occupied by Next Beauty at Home, would be reconfigured to provide leisure space, a restaurant and co-working office space.
The ground floor plans suggest a significant decrease in the amount of restaurant space: currently trading from the existing space are Cote Brasserie, TGI Fridays, Browns Bar & Brasserie and the Miller & Carter Steakhouse. But under the new plans there would be just one restaurant unit.
Similarly, the former Debenhams unit contains two restaurant units, occupied by Franco Manca and The Real Greek – which would be reduced to one unit.
The applications can be viewed on Reading Borough Council’s planning portal. The plan south of river can be viewed using reference 221917, and the plan north of the river can be viewed using reference 221916.
