The designs for Panama City Centre in Panama City, Panama, have been unveiled by design firm WATG. The project consists of two towers that will feature a conference centre, a casino, a spa, a fitness centre with pool, food and beverage units and retail outlets. One of the towers will house a 397-room hotel with a fine-dining restaurant on top, while the other will have office space with a nightclub

Developer Dubai Properties is building a £255m museum, dedicated to Middle Eastern modern art as the centre piece of its £8bn Cultural Village project in Dubai, UAE. The 25,000 sq m Museum of Middle East Modern Art (MOMEMA), designed by Amsterdam-based architects UN Studio, will include exhibition spaces, art galleries, leasable workshop spaces, an auditorium and an amphitheatre for live performances and international festivals. MOMEMA will also feature a 60-room

Work has commenced on the £7.6m remodelling of a large two-storey Marks & Spencer retail unit, which had been vacant for over three years, on High Road in Wembley, London. Designed by Brimelow McSweeney Architects for Dukelease Properties, the scheme will provide a leisure centre and two retail units while existing offices on upper floors will be converted into residential accommodation. The 1,345 sq m health club will be operated

Argent, the developers leading the £2bn regeneration of London's King's Cross area, will need to use its own money to fund the next phase of the project after talks with a consortium of international banks fell through. Negotiations over the £400,000 financial package ended as conditions in the financial market deteriorated. Argent needs to start the next phase of work this month in order to finish the first buildings in

Liverpool City Council has approved plans for the £105m redevelopment of the former Lewis's department store. Proposals for mixed-use project at the 420,000sq ft (39,000sq m) Grade II-listed building were passed by the city's planning committee in August. The owners of the site, developer Merepark and property company Capital & Counties, are behind the plans for the redevelopment of the nine-storey building, which will include a music venue, food and

North Somerset Council (NSC) has approved plans for the £48m redevelopment of the Tropicana centre in Weston-super-Mare. The council's West Area planning committee gave the [email protected] project the go ahead after delaying the decision for two months. Plans for the complex include a six-lane, 25m indoor swimming pool, a multiplex cinema, a 20-lane bowling alley and a 96-bedroom hotel. Retail units and a restaurant are also among the proposals which

Tampopo, the Manchester-based noodle bar, has opened its sixth restaurant in Bristol as part of the brand's £2.2m expansion. The 104-seat restaurant is located at the new £500m Cabot Circus retail and leisure development in Broadmead. It follows the opening of two Tampopo sites in Manchester in December 2007 – at the Trafford Centre and the Triangle Shopping Centre. The company has also refurbished its first restaurant, which opened at

Delancey and Land Securities have submitted plans to redevelop Clapham Junction station as part of mixed-use scheme to the London Borough of Wandsworth. The project is being headed by the firms' partnership The Metro Shopping Fund, and if successful will provide the station with two new entrances capable of accommodating the 1.6 million increase in users expected by 2026. There could also be a two-level pedestrian shopping street with space

Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) has unveiled plans for the £200m redevelopment of Old Trafford cricket club in Manchester as part of a larger 50-acre sports-led regeneration scheme. The project, led by a joint partnership between the club, Trafford Council, Ask Developments, Tesco and Stretford High School, will include a 750,000 sq ft (69.6 sq m) development featuring a new 15,000-seat stadium with the capability of rising to 25,000 with

Construction work has begun on a £12m dual-use sports and social centre – the flagship project of the University of Sunderland's £75m redevelopment of its former city centre Chester Road Campus. Called CitySpace, the centre is designed by architects FaulknerBrowns, and will be a pre-paralympic training site for the 2012 London Games. It will be the official training base for Paralympic sailing, boccia, table tennis, goalball and wheelchair basketball, fencing

The Renaissance Hotel, formerly operated by Marriott, in Reading is to undergo a multi-million pound refurbishment as part of its re-branding as the first UK pentahotel. The Germany-based brand has been created by the property's owner HPI Holdings, which decided to rebrand the hotel when Marriott's management contract expired. As part of the refurbishment, which will take place in the next couple of months, the six-floor hotel will acquire 12

A large leisure, retail and entertainment complex is set to open in Kuwait City, Kuwait, early next year. The Kuwait 360° Mall is owned and operated by the retail group Tamdeen and will include a 15-screen multiplex cinema, an Imax theatre, three entertainment zones totaling 12,000sq m and 60,000sq m of branded retail space. At the heart of the development, which was designed by US-based architects RTKL, will be a

Property developer The Klin Group has submitted plans for a 27-room boutique hotel and retail complex to East Ayrshire Council in Scotland. The Encore Project, which is expected to cost around £65m, will result in a series of derelict buildings being converted into a five-storey, 40,000sq ft tower, in the Victorian Quarter of Kilmarnock’s town centre. When complete, the building will house restaurants, retail stores and the hotel as part

Westfield London, a £1.6bn mixed-use development is due to open this October as part of the regeneration of the White City Opportunity Area. The scheme, designed by US architect Michael Gabellini on behalf of Australian-based developers Westfield Group, will feature a 14-screen cinema run by National Amusements and a gym with health spa. The 200,000sq ft, three-floor development will also boast two levels of retail stores and The Atrium, an

Plans for the regeneration of Edinburgh's Leith Docks have been given the go-ahead by City of Edinburgh Council. The council awarded outline planning permission for the £700m mixed-use scheme, which is reportedly the largest planning application in Edinburgh's history. The project is part of a 30-year vision to transform the city's waterfront into a sustainable community and leisure destination. The framework, designed by international architects RMJM in collaboration with developers

A £122m regeneration plan for south Norwich has received the green light from Norwich City Council. The 45,000sq ft mixed-use development, called Harford Place, is led by developers Targetfollow and includes a leisure complex, restaurants, cafés, a hotel and a 10,000sq ft community art centre with 20 artist studios. When complete, the development will also include residential housing, a public realm and a new public square, which will form the

Work is reportedly set to begin this month on a project which will see Dubai's Wonderland theme and water park transformed with the addition of new rides, water attractions, hotels, restaurants spas and retail outlets. The DH615m (£90m, US$167m, AUD$192m, 113m euro) development is designed to be a smaller-scale version of the Disneyland and Universal Studios theme parks in the United States. The work is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Australia-based developers Stockland has submitted a revised planning application for a mixed-use development at William Hunter Way in Brentwood, Essex. The plans, being considered by Brentwood Borough Council, include a six-screen Apollo cinema and food store, a new pedestrian link from the development to the high street which includes two retail units, as well as 18 new homes. The developers, formerly known as Stockland Halladale, has worked with architects Engle

Developer Stanhope and its partner, asset management company Schroders, have been given the green light for their plans to redevelop Croydon Gateway in south London. The communities secretary, Hazel Blears, rejected Croydon Council's compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the site next to East Croydon railway station. The proposals for the 8.5-acre Ruskin Square site, which is already jointly owned by Schroders and Stanhope, will see a new 200-seat Warehouse theatre

Cornwall may become home to a new ecologically sustainable five-star hotel complex if the developer, Roseland Peninsula Homes, is successful in its planning application. The 130-bedroom hotel, to be called The Coast, will feature a public cinema, a restaurant and cafe, retail units, a conference centre and a Sky Bar. It will also include a health spa and a gym. The complex is designed by architect Richard Hywel Evans in

Dublin's €750m (£590n) Northern Quarter mixed-use development has been granted planning permission by Ireland's planning board. The 5.5-acre development is designed by HKR Architects and is led by Dublin retailer Arnotts and developers Centros urban regeneration company, with the aim of rejuvenating the northern part of the city. When complete, the project will feature a 149-bedroom hotel with luxury spa and sky restaurant and 13 cafes, bars and restaurants. It

Revised plans for the proposed Croydon Arena, part of the Croydon Gateway redevelopment in London, have been rejected by the communities secretary, Hazel Blears. The project, a partnership between developer Arrowcroft and the London Borough of Croydon, is one of two proposed regenerative developments for the 12.36 acre (5-hectare) site. The rejected plans, designed by Michael Aukett Architects, involved the construction of a new 12,500-seat indoor arena for sports, business

Quintain Estates and Development (QED), the firm behind the new Wembley City urban regeneration scheme, has forced several publications to withdraw stories that speculate the firm has stopped working on its regeneration masterplan. Nick Shattock, deputy chief executive of QED, told Leisure Opportunities "The scheme is entirely on course," and that a two-week pause was necessary to review the design work on the emerging phase II masterplan, to accommodate a

Plans to build a £25m rugby stadium in St Helens, Merseyside, is due to receive approval from the Government Office for the North West this month following unanimous support from the St Helens Council Planning Committee. Langtree, the project’s developer and the site’s owner, proposes to construct an 18,000-capacity stadium with mixed seating and standing facilities, to replace the existing home for the St Helens Rugby League Club as part

X Leisure, owner of Fountain Park leisure and retail complex in Edinburgh, has been granted planning permission for a new budget hotel with three restaurants by the city council. The development, designed by architects SMC Hugh Martin Partnership, will consist of a 2,545 sq m, four-storey, 181-room, budget hotel with three family restaurants on the ground floor. The hotel will join the existing 13-screen Cineworld cinema, casino, restaurants and Mecca

X Leisure, owner of Fountain Park leisure and retail complex in Edinburgh, has been granted planning permission for a new budget hotel with three restaurants by the city council. The development, designed by architects SMC Hugh Martin Partnership, will consist of a 2,545 sq m, four-storey, 181-room, budget hotel with three family restaurants on the ground floor. The hotel will join the existing 13-screen Cineworld cinema, casino, restaurants and Mecca

Plans to build a museum of Middle Eastern modern art in Dubai have been revealed by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. Designed by Amsterdam, Netherlands-based architects UNStudio, the museum will be located within the proposed Culture Village in the city-state's Jadaf district. The UAD50bn (£6.91bn, US$13.6bn, 8.7bn euro) project will include a large centrepiece museum, an amphitheatre, an exhibition hall and smaller museums displaying local