Reports today that Aussie shopping giant Westfield has finally taken the 23-acre shopping centre-sized hole in Bradford to the checkout have come as no surprise to retail experts and Yorkshire property folk alike writes Mark Simmons.After all, we've been here before: a sale was mooted in the spring and Westfield has long been coy about its ultimate plans for the centre. But when Westfield started shelf-clearing its interests in other UK regional centres earlier this year, most notably in Nottingham, it was only a really matter of time before Bradford dropped into the basket.
The 500,000 sq ft retail scheme, originally known as Broadway, has been a victim of circumstance and rotten timing. Owned by a succession of developers over the last 15 years, it has never progressed beyond a cleared site.
Yet there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the proposed centre: although the retailtropolis of Leeds may be a shopping trolley's push down the road, Bradford has its own large catchment positively crying out for modern mall space. The fact that Wakefield, another Leeds satellite, managed to complete a similar-sized centre last year (and in the middle of a recession, natch,) demonstrates the strength of retailer and consumer demand.
So the sale of the Bradford site can only be good news for both stores and shoppers. The scheme is as oven-ready as they come and could easily be ready by early 2015. One piece of advice from the retail bods: just take with a pinch of salt suggestions that Westfield will manage the completed development.
Picture by Tim Green aka atoach on Flickr
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