New city centre business opportunities are being created with the help of Swansea Council funding support.
They are part of an £11.4 million, two-year programme delivered by the council to boost commercial spaces and homes. More than £7 million of this came from the Welsh Government Transforming Towns scheme, with £4.3 million of private investment.
Kate Leonard, of Exist Skatepark, said:
“The external refurbishment of our beloved skatepark will be a huge boost, not just to our skate community but to our neighbourhood and the city centre.”
The grants and loans have also helped bring new business opportunities to other Swansea locations.
Council cabinet member Robert Francis-Davies said:
“As Swansea's £1 billion regeneration continues at pace, it's great to see us helping deliver new business opportunities.
“This is bringing more life to key retail areas, attracting new entrepreneurs and residents.”
City centre buildings being given a new lease of life for commercial activity – some also featuring new homes above the ground floor – include:
- External refurbishment of the Exist Skatepark building
- New premises for Principality Building Society and others after refurbishment of 263-265 Oxford Street and 9 Portland Street
- Four new shopfronts at 20-24 High Street – including SA1 Grocery, Turkish Kitchen and Imperial Desserts
- Refurbished vacant ground floor commercial unit at 22-23 High Street, next to Turkish Kitchen
- New shopfront for The CAE Community Enterprise Hub – 28 Oxford Street
- New commercial unit through refurbishment and conversion of 1-3 Dillwyn Street, including the former Singleton Hotel
- External and internal refurbishment to bring 22 Oxford Street back into use
- External and internal refurbishment of 397 Kingsway to provide new base for Marie Curie
- Refurbishment of vacant ground floor commercial unit at 6-7 Oxford Street and 1-7 Whitewalls – the former Top Shop
- New commercial space with the conversion of the former White Swan pub at 86 High Street
- Planned external and internal refurbishment to provide new commercial space at the former Kings Arms, 26 High Street
- Planned external and internal refurbishment to bring Union Street’s Mond Building back into use
- External and internal refurbishment to bring vacant commercial ground floor back into use at 27-29 Kingsway, the former Nationwide and Burgess World Travel
- External and internal refurbishment and conversion of ground floor at 61 Kingsway and 26 Park Street to bring vacant commercial building back into use, with two new commercial units
- 19 Kingsway – External and internal refurbishment and conversion to bring vacant ground floor back into commercial use
Other transformations include: the rebuilding of former Clydach warehouse for the Swansea Canal Centre; three new shopfronts at 58-60 Woodfield Street, Morriston; new use ground floor space at Morris Mouse Nursery, Glantawe Street, Morriston; new commercial, event and community space at Morriston Tabernacle; two new commercial units at Morriston’s former St Johns Church; and a new pharmacy with treatment rooms at 82-84 Teilo Street, Pontarddulais.
Jayne Bryant, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, said:
“I’m pleased to see more than £7 million of funding from our Welsh Government Transforming Towns programme being used to create exciting new business opportunities across Swansea city centre. This brings the total contributed to regeneration projects in the city to £91 million since 2020.
“The mixed-use approach, with commercial activity at street level and residential spaces above, is just the model needed to ensure our city centres remain economically resilient places where people want to live, work and visit.”
