148 City Road – Xquisite Africa

Posted on February 28, 2011 by samwaysblog

What: Xquisite Africa – African and Caribbean Shop

Where: 148 City Road

When: 12th September 2010

Why: Fire broke out due to electrical fault with the freezer.

Cardiff blogsite Afrocardiffians quoted the owner saying she intended to reopen in February 2011 but since this statement, the lettings board has gone up, being advertised through Burnett Davies Chartered Surveyors:

  • Rent: £7,500 per annum, exclusive of VAT, rates and utilities.
  • Rateable Value: of £4,050 ratespayable for the year 2008/09 are therefore £1,887 per annum
  • First Floor Offices 30.84 sq.mt ( 322 sq.ft)
    First Floor Kitchen 4.74 sq.mt ( 51 sq.ft)
    Second Floor Offices 33.16 sq.mt ( 357 sq.ft)*
    TOTAL: 68.74 ( 740)

    • *approx 94sqft falls below 6’0” due to a sloping ceiling

(all data taken on footage and costs is taken from agents site and may be liable to change)

Posted in african, caribbean, fire, Plasnewydd, YMT | Leave a comment

98 St Mary Street

Posted on February 16, 2011 by amyjgardner



  • What? Site of hairdressers which has since relocated
  • Where? 98 St Mary Street, city centre, Cardiff
  • Floorspace? 183.31 m², with additional basement storage space
  • Rateable value? £55,500
  • Rates payable?£26,895 (2010/2011)

(All data is taken from the agent’s site and may be liable to change)

Posted in City Centre | Tagged | Leave a comment

21 High Street

Posted on February 15, 2011 by amyjgardner

  • What? Old Endsleigh Insurance site, which has since relocated to a larger premises
  • Where? 21 High Street, city centre, Cardiff
  • Floorspace: Three story building with 52.30sq m ground floor sales space, and additional office/ storage space upstairs
  • Rent:advertised at £41,000 per annum by agent
  • Rateable value: £21,500
  • Rates payable 2010/11 were shown by agent as £10,514 pa

(all data taken on footage and costs is taken from agent’s site and may be liable to change)

Why is that Empty?

Posted in City Centre | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Barfly, Cardiff

Posted on February 7, 2011 by egrommet

Closure of the Barfly Venue
More of a Why is That Still Empty? – although that looks set to change.

The picture was taken on September 2, 2010 following the closure of the popular Barfly venue.

Guardian Cardiff, the BBC and the NME all covered the closure.

If you are interested here is the 2009 company report for Mama Group PLC (the parent group).

The latest news is that YourCardiff has a piece on the venue reopening as a night club.

Posted in City Centre, YMT | Leave a comment

Former Blockbuster Store, Birchgrove

Posted on February 2, 2011 by egrommet

Former Blockbuster, Birchgrove, Cardiff

What: Former Blockbusters Store

Where: Caerphilly Road, Birchgrove, Cardiff

When: mid 2010 (still empty as of February 2011)

Why: Blockbuster was reputed to be suffering as a result of its US parent’s ongoing business issues.

Both the Scotsman and MCV news were among the news sites looking at the business issues and threatened closures in the first quarter of 2010.

Although later in the year Independent said the UK company was in profit despite its US parent’s problems.

Details on the letting agents site – EJ HALES –  show:

  • Floorspace: double shop with a sales floor of 113.81 square metres and has upstairs storage
  • Rent: advertised at £27,500 per annum by agent
  • Rateable value: £26500
  • Rates payable 2010/11 were shown by agent as £10,838.50

(all data taken on footage and costs is taken from agent’s site and may be liable to change)

Why Is That Empty?

Posted in Birchgrove, YMT | 2 Comments

Former Envy store

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Ben

Envy, 20/22 Queen Street, Cardiff

What: Former Envy Store

Where: Queen Street, Cardiff

When: July 2010

Why: Administrators Leonard Curtis were called in after the company ran into difficulties in February 2010.

It was then bought from owner, John Kinnaird, by a group of private investors in March and finally went into liquidation in April last year.

A total of 23 stores were closed nationwide. Administrators will continue to trade the remaining 10 stores based across England and Scotland from Thurrock to Glasgow.

Details on the letting agents site – Savills – show:

  • Floorspace: 6699 sq ft: Ground floor: 3,191 sq ft,           First floor, 2,308 sq ft, Second floor, 1,200 sq ft.
  • Rent: advertised at £195,000 by agent
  • Rateable value: (2010/11): £239,000
  • Rates payable: £116,871

(all data taken on footage and costs is taken from agents site and may be liable to change)

Why Is That Empty?

Posted in City Centre, YMT | Leave a comment