In 2024, Canadian investor Roy Sebag, who owns Goldmoney Properties, bought the Clarendon Centre from Lothbury Asset Management.
Since last year, the centre has been closed, with retailers including TK Maxx moving to the Westgate shopping centre, or other locations.
READ MORE: Shopping centre revamp will bring new shops
Now GP (Goldmoney Properties) Clarendon Square Ltd has submitted a planning application to the city council to renovate the centre – featuring a new square.
The application said: “This proposal is for the refurbishment of the existing buildings through the opening up of the existing thoroughfares by removing the roof coverings and the opening of the very centre to form a large 41×42 metre landscaped square.
“Quinlan Terry CBE has designed new classical design stone facades to the square and the existing elevations. These key elevations are Cornmarket Street and Queen Street.”
How the new square could look at the Clarendon Centre (Image: GP Clarendon Square Ltd)
The application’s design statement added: “In its latter years, accelerated by the 2017 redevelopment of the Westgate shopping centre, the Clarendon Centre had struggled to remain commercially viable, with most of its units becoming vacant and shoppers migrating to the Westgate Centre and elsewhere.
“The Clarendon Centre closed its doors for the final time in June 2025.
“The site was acquired by GP Clarendon Square Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldmoney Properties Limited in December 2024.”
The new square is expected to reduce the amount of space available for retail units.
The application added: “The new proposal reuses much of the existing internal structure of the buildings while re-fronting the facades to deliver a set of buildings more in keeping with the built heritage of Oxford.”
Some research and development hubs are expected to feature alongside retail units.
Anoushka Rowland Payne, director of estate development for GP (Goldmoney Properties) Clarendon Square Ltd, said earlier: “The new proposal reimagines the former shopping centre as an open-air destination, integrated with the existing pedestrian routes.
“The project hopes to rejuvenate Oxford’s city centre, creating a beautiful setting where people can linger, shop, and dine.”
Oxford city councillor Susanna Pressel has welcomed the latest plans.
She said: “Now that the planning application has been submitted and published, we can all see what the new Clarendon Centre will look like if it gets permission.
“I think it will be a worthy addition to our city centre, and a great improvement on what was there before. I can’t wait for it to be completed.”
Ms Pressel said earlier that the new development, featuring the square, would be a “stunning addition to the city centre”.
She added: “Every college has internal quads which are lovely green and peaceful places, but they are not accessible to most of us. Bonn Square is attractive, but it’s not enough.
“This development would provide a very welcome peaceful green space, open to all. As we walk along Cornmarket Street and Queen Street, we would have a glimpse of beautiful trees and benches to tempt us in, with new open ‘streets’ to lead us there.
“The developers are even planning a water feature in the central square, which would surely be a great draw. They talk about how this would give ‘a sense of tranquillity’.”
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