Revised plans for a new commercial property in Bradford have been submitted to the council by shopping centre group Westfield.
The latest bid is for a scaled down £275m scheme in the centre of Bradford. The commercial property will contain two large anchor stores and seventy-five smaller shops, public spaces and parking for over 1,300 cars. Westfield says proceeding with the scheme is dependent upon getting a stated commitment from ‘major retailers’ which will entail ‘a lot of work to get them behind us’.
The application is the latest stage in a development process that began in 1998. When a partnership between developers and local authorities was initially established, a 550,000 sq ft addition to Bradford’s commercial property stockpile was expected. Well-known high street brands Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and BHS were to enter the proposed £320m complex with space for 100 shops. Permission was granted in 2003 and Westfield bought the site in 2004.
By 2006, demolition on the original stock of commercial property was completed but, with no further confirmation from anchor tenants, construction was subsequently delayed. The site remained undeveloped, coming under parliamentary scrutiny for the lack of movement, before a temporary £300,000 ‘urban park’ was installed in 2010.
Now the council, which had threatened to take the site from Westfield if progress wasn’t made, is set to adjudicate on the new plans. Westfield says ‘if everything goes well it is possible’ work can begin on the plot in 2012.
Some concern is said to exist around the apparent downsizing of the project. Westfield developers are said to have prioritised local labour as an inducement to getting the go-ahead from Bradford Metropolitan and District Council. Close work with planning inspectors has reportedly been carried out, which Westfield hopes will attract potential tenants to their latest venue. Scope for future residential and commercial property expansion is promised and Westfield says the ‘development will help to position Bradford as a premier shopping destination in West Yorkshire’.
A councillor at Bradford Metropolitan and District Council said the delay in construction had been disappointing and welcomed the new developments. Another said the proposed commercial property would be in ‘the major regeneration zone in the city’ and hopes ‘everyone will see this as a very positive step’.
The Australian-owned Westfield Group has interests in 124 shopping centres worldwide. It operates a commercial property portfolio across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, United States and Brazil, with over 10m sq m of retail space. Ten of these shopping centres are in England and Northern Ireland. A high-profile example is Westfield London, Shepherds Bush. Opening soon is Westfield Stratford, next to the Olympics site in East London. Other significant commercial property operations are in Derby and Nottingham.
Reports suggest the identity of some key occupiers will be released soon. At the time of writing, a visit to Westfield Bradford’s website finds it under construction, with the words ‘new site coming soon’. Whether this applies to just the online version, or the physical commercial property in Bradford, or both, is a question that may be answered soon.
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