City of London wants retail expansion despite slump

Bloomberg

London’s main financial district expects demand for stores from workers and visitors to increase even as retailers go bust because more consumers are shopping online.
The City of London’s local government expects investors
to add 122,500 square metres
(1.3 million square feet) of retail space in the district over the coming 15 years, according to a proposed development plan. That’s almost two-thirds the size of Westfield Stratford, one of Europe’s largest shopping malls, which is about 10 minutes by subway from the City.
The spending power of finance and tech workers had led to a boom in the number of restaurants and other nightlife in the neighbourhood pre-pandemic. Continuing to reduce
the district’s reliance on financial services would help diversify the municipal government’s tax income.
“We have sought advice from our retail consultant on whether to update” the retail space targets due to Covid-19 “and the advice we have received is that our approach to retail remains valid,” a spokesperson for the City of London said in an email. “We will, on our consultant’s advice, keep retail trends and targets under review.”
Demand for cafes, food outlets and leisure facilities could increase in the coming years in the district that is currently home to 2,000 stores. Developers are planning enough office space for more than 85,000 additional workers in the cluster of skyscrapers around the Lloyd’s of London insurance marketplace — if they can find companies to occupy them and people revert back to commuting five days a week.