The former Iceland car park in Watford town centre is set to be upgraded, with less spaces, to try and bring the store back into use.

The supermarket, in The Parade, permanently closed on October 14, 2023, as the business shut four locations nationwide that month amid a review of "the retail experience offered to customers".

Its Watford unit has remained vacant ever since, while a new leaseholder to bring it back into use is being sought, but activity will return to the site as changes are on the way for the car park at the back - accessed via Albert Road South.

According to the landlord, Watford Parade (Gibraltar) Ltd, “the existing carpark has become dilapidated over time due to the constant usage” and “is in need of repair and update”.

Plans for a redesign were submitted earlier this year and approved today (October 21), which aims to tackle potholes, patchwork repairs, and insufficient lighting.

Entrance to the former Iceland car park on the right. (Image: Stephen Danzig) Proposals include resurfacing and reconfiguration as well as new lighting, marked footways, a zebra crossing by the entrance. It would also result in the number of available spots dropping from 80 to 64, while creating three accessible spaces and three family spaces.

Once complete, the applicant hopes that the new-look car park will be able to withstand "the daily use of the site" and will also “support the reletting of the building”.

The car park behind the former Pryzm and Iceland building (top left).The car park behind the former Pryzm and Iceland building (top left). (Image: Google Maps) Despite Watford Parade (Gibraltar) Ltd’s plans to create 147 homes in the building that were submitted in April 2022 being blocked the following year, occupiers Pryzm, Iceland, and Laser Planet have all since shut down.

The majority of the building is part of a listing which has been marketed for sale through property consultants Estate Office, with a £6million guide price, for just under a year. Part of the ground floor, including where the former Iceland store is, is understood not to be part of this sale and is apparently being retained.

The former supermarket, which was left empty after fixtures and fittings were removed earlier this year, will therefore likely have its own separate occupier to the former Pryzm unit.