Nottingham City Council is prepared to re-enter talks with Armani after it rejected the fashion retailer’s plans to open in the city.
The council rebuffed Armani’s plans in March after objecting to changes the retailer wanted to make to the structure of the listed building at St Peter’s Gate, in the city centre.
Armani was forced to put its plans on ice after the decision was taken by the council not to grant planning permission.
However, Nottingham City Council has since approached the landlord’s agents, Fisher Hargreaves Proctor (FHP), and said that it is willing to talk to Armani again with a view to finding a solution.
Armani had requested that landlord Pan Albion Group remove a timber frame dividing two windows at the centre of the building. The council’s refusal to allow the works sparked anger among local residents and businesses, which say that Armani would be a valuable addition to the city’s retail offer.
The building that the luxury fashion retailer had earmarked for opening is currently sitting empty. It is next door to a Hugo Boss store that opened in 2004 after a similar planning permission was granted. It is understood that a further application asking for the window to
be altered will now be submitted by FHP.
FHP surveyor Ben Tebbutt said: “They’ve perhaps realised that there aren’t many opportunities to get Armani in Nottingham and they seem to be doing the right thing.”
At the time the application was originally submitted Tebbutt wrote to the council urging it to allow the works to go ahead, saying that Armani would be a “fantastic tenant for not only this building but also for Nottingham itself”.
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