Kit PetersCOPR BAY: Long-delayed car park to open within weeks — but four years on, its shops still stand empty
Councillors on a scrutiny panel were told this week that an opening date for the car park, behind the Tesco superstore off Oystermouth Road, would be announced shortly.
It brings an end in sight to one of the more frustrating chapters of Swansea’s recent regeneration.
A corner retail unit beneath the Copr Bay North car park on Cupid Way. (Image: Swansea Bay News)A four-year wait
The car park is part of the council’s £135m Copr Bay scheme, which delivered the Swansea Arena, a block of flats, a coastal park and the landmark bridge over Oystermouth Road when it opened in March 2022.
The district has not been without parking in the meantime. The Copr Bay South car park, next to the Arena and beneath Mary Dilwyn Park, opened alongside the venue in 2022. It is the larger Copr Bay North multi-storey, on the other side of Oystermouth Road, that has been held up.
It was meant to follow soon after the rest of the scheme. But the original contractor, Buckingham Group, went into administration in 2023, leaving the half-finished structure in limbo.
Progress since then has been slow, with contractor Andrew Scott brought in to complete the work left unfinished.
Council leader Rob Stewart told the meeting that money held back within the original Copr Bay contract — set aside in an escrow account to cover the risk of exactly this kind of contractor failure — “remains sufficient” to cover the cost of finishing the job.
The council says it has also secured a £4.8m Welsh Government grant towards the car park and its retail units.
The curved glazed frontage at the base of the new Copr Bay North car park. (Image: Swansea Bay News)Scaffolding finally came off the building earlier this year, and the council now expects it to be finished next month.
Officers told the meeting that once the opening date is confirmed — expected “very, very shortly” — the council will move quickly to demolish the neighbouring St David’s multi-storey car park, which has remained in use throughout and sits right beside the new building, separated only by Cupid Way.
The ageing structure is to come down once Copr Bay North takes over — part of the wider regeneration of that site, which we will look at separately.
Andrew Scott vans on site, with the ageing St David’s multi-storey car park behind — due for demolition once Copr Bay North opens. (Image: Swansea Bay News)Unit 10 on Cupid Way, one of the five units beneath the car park still standing empty four years on. (Image: Swansea Bay News)The shops that never came
Built into the car park are five retail units along Cupid Way — and their story has been a frustrating one.
When the units were first marketed, the council announced a line-up of mostly local food and drink traders, including Ammanford-based Coaltown Coffee, alongside FrozziYo Frozen Yoghurt and KoKoDoo Korean Fried Chicken, as well as Imperial Candy.
In the end, none took up their Cupid Way unit.
Coaltown Coffee did not open in the city centre, though it continues to trade at its sites in Ammanford and Pontarddulais.
FrozziYo instead opened on the Kingsway, while KoKoDoo Korean Fried Chicken opened on Wind Street.
Imperial Candy — a sister brand to Imperial Desserts on High Street, run by local businessman Ammar Alabtah — did not open.
Cupid Way itself carries a piece of local history: it is named after Cyril Cupid, a record-breaking Swansea sprinter of the 1930s.
The council’s regeneration strategic manager, Lee Richards, told the panel that marketing of the units had restarted now an opening date was in sight, and that there were already “two very strong interests” for two of them.
He said it was “quite a positive position”, with the council hopeful of securing tenants for the rest “quite quickly”.
The heritage board on the Cupid Way hoardings telling the story of Swansea sprinter Cyril Cupid. (Image: Swansea Bay News)What happens next
For now, the milestone residents have waited years for is the car park itself, with an opening date expected within weeks.
Whether the shop units below it finally come to life is the next test for a corner of the city centre that has promised much, but so far delivered slowly.
The Copr Bay North car park, with its copper-fin façade, nearing completion beside Swansea Arena. (Image: Swansea Bay News)Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Scaffolding comes down on stalled Copr Bay car park
The half-finished multi-storey began to take shape again earlier this year after its contractor collapsed.
Opening date set for Swansea’s £135m Copr Bay district
The arena, coastal park and bridge over Oystermouth Road opened to the public in March 2022.
The traders lined up for Cupid Way
Coaltown Coffee was among the local food and drink names announced for the new units.
Food and drink chalets open at Copr Bay
FrozziYo and KoKoDoo were among the early arrivals on the Arena side of the bridge.
