A University of Gloucestershire graduate has drawn up a £100 million scheme to transform Cheltenham’s long-empty Cavendish House into a bustling quarter with a new public square, shops, cafés, restaurants and homes. The Cheltenham Civic Society is now urging site owner Canada Life Asset Management to back the Cavendish Exchange proposals or sell up after what it calls six years of stagnation.
Designed by Cynthia Hartmann in just six months as part of her studies, the vision would strip away the tired 1960s façade and replace it with glazed double-height arches. A grand central pedestrian route would link the Promenade through a new square to Regent Street and the Everyman Theatre. Ground and first floor levels would be filled with shops and eateries, with a signature restaurant or foodcourt on part of the third floor and apartments above.
Civic society chair Andrew Booton said the scheme proves ambitious town centre regeneration is “entirely viable in commercial terms,” generating long-term rental income, council tax and spending power for businesses. He contrasted Hartmann’s swift work with Canada Life’s lack of progress, describing the empty department store as a symbol of decline. “The embarrassing reality is that a single architectural student, working part-time over six months, has succeeded in producing a coherent, attractive and deliverable vision for this site,” he added.
Canada Life has been in discussions with Cheltenham Borough Council about redeveloping the site since at least 2024, with housing previously mooted. Cavendish House first opened in 1823 and traded as the town’s oldest department store before House of Fraser closed its doors in April 2024, leaving the prominent Promenade plot largely vacant ever since.
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