Westfield Bradford
Encyclopedia
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In preparation for the project a number of buildings, mainly dating from the 1960s, were demolished on Forster Square
Forster Square, Bradford
Forster Square, Bradford was a square in central Bradford that disappeared in the current Broadway development, but gives its name to Bradford Forster Square railway station and a retail park.- History :...
and major shopping street Broadway.
By 2006 demolition work had freed for development a site encompassed by Hall Ings, Well Street, the new Lower Kirkgate and Charles Street.
In April 2010, after several years in which no construction had taken place, the project was mothballed and work began on creating a temporary park on part of the site.
History
In 1998 the Forster Square Development Partnership was established between Magellan Properties, Caddick Developments and Bradford Metropolitan District Council. They planned a 51,096 m² (550,000 sq ft) shopping centre containing DebenhamsDebenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
, BHS, Marks and Spencer and 100 shops and other leisure facilities. (BHS already had a store in Broadway which was demolished as part of the demolition of the previous development on the site). The partnership sold it to Stannifer which was bought out by the Westfield Group in December 2004.
Planning permission for the development was awarded approved on 10 September 2003 with the claim that 3,000 new jobs could be created. Demolition on the Forster Square site started on 18 March 2004 and by mid 2006 the site was empty apart from a large pile of rubble. It was originally hoped that the complex would be open by late 2007 (with construction commencing in early 2006), but with a lack of anchor tenants
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
and with many workmen still working on Westfield Derby, the start date for construction was pushed back. The delays lead to Bradford Council
City of Bradford
The City of Bradford is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden and...
threatening to take back control of the site from Westfield, if progress wasn't made.
Expected stores
On 7 February 2008 it was revealed that BHS had cancelled its plans to open within this development, meaning that Bradford would not have a replacement for the BHS store which closed in 2004 as part of the demolition. Arcadia Group have also signed up for stores, which include their Topshop, Topman, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Wallis and Miss Selfridge brands. Some of these stores already exist on Darley Street, elsewhere in Bradford city centre.Next has signed up for a 2 floor store within the centre. Its existing store in Forster Square will remain open. Marks and Spencer have also signed up - it is unknown whether the existing store on nearby Darley Street will remain. The jewellery chain Beaverbrooks
Beaverbrooks
Beaverbrooks is a British jeweller. Established in 1919, with the opening of its first store in Belfast and still a family-owned business, with direct descendants of the founders, ,the custodians.-Awards and recognition:Beaverbrooks staff are the most content in the country, according to the Sunday...
was expected to take up tenancy.
Temporary park
In February 2010, almost 6 years since the start of demolition, Bradford Council announced a plan to convert part of the construction site into a temporary park. The park would include new footpaths, seating, grassed areas, urban allotments and a performance area The funding for the park scheme was provided partly by central government, as part of a fund to help local councils invest after recession, Yorkshire ForwardYorkshire Forward
Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the United Kingdom. It supports the development of business in the region by encouraging public and private investment in education, skills, environment and infrastructure...
, and the developers Westfield. Work began on the park in April. The park is a temporary measure; in its 2009 financial results, Westfield stated that it was continuing pre-development activity on the scheme.
Current status
- 20 November, 2007 - Westfield installed staff cabins and began preparatory work prior to beginning construction.
- Also in November 2007, Westfield apply to change the planning permission to include a hotel.
- August 2008 - No formal start date for construction yet announced, as Westfield are waiting for more 'anchor tenants' to sign up for shop space; currently half of the total shop space has been let. The developers have pledged to start work 'as soon as possible' and preparatory work on the site was due to be completed by mid-August 2008.
- January 2009 - site consists of excavated foundations but nobody working on site and all staff entrances chained up.
- March 2009 - announced that work on the site is 'on hold' until 2010 due to the recessionLate 2000s recessionThe late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...
. - 20 May 2009 - Bradford West Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Marsha SinghMarsha SinghMarsha Singh is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Bradford West since 1997....
raised the lack of progress on the site during Prime Minister's QuestionsPrime Minister's QuestionsPrime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
in the House of Commons. Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, the Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, stated that he would be willing to hold a meeting with Westfield to discuss the issue - February 2010 - Bradford Council announces plan to convert part of the site into a temporary park
- April 2010 - Work starts on the temporary park
- June 2011- Westfield to submit new revised plans for a smaller centre containing 77 shops.