Rockin' Shopping Centre remix V.1

Published 11th Nov 2010

Rockin' Shopping Centre remix V.1

The boss of shopping centre developer Westfield says he remains passionate about Bradford and the mothballed £320 million Broadway development.

Visiting the city to update property chiefs, Peter Miller, Westfield’s chief executive officer, promised that the Australian-based company would do everything it could to “crack the nut” of taking the Bradford scheme forward.

But Mr Miller would not be pinned down to a timescale when asked by members of the Bradford Property Forum, which held the briefing in a room at the Midland Hotel looking out over the Westfield site.

He said “The timescale for this project is that we’ll do it when we feel the time is right and we are able to proceed with a viable development.

“I have been involved with this scheme for the past four years and it’s a very exciting project for the city which desperately needs a better retail offering and we’re very conscious of that.

“In the light of the global financial crisis and the worst recession since World War Two we took the difficult decision to stop the scheme as we didn’t want to end up with a project that becomes a white elephant.

“If there’s anyone that can make things happen it’s Westfield and if we had found the answer then Bradford would be happening now as I’m passionate about getting things going here.”

Mr Miller, who said he was responsible for getting Marks & Spencer to sign up to the Broadway scheme to become one of the anchor tenants alongside Debenhams, told the Forum that Westfield would maintain close contact with Bradford Council to try to find a way forward for the scheme – and he was happy to listen to ideas and suggestions from any other groups in the city.

At the end of the day Westfield, a publicly quoted company celebrating its 50th year, could only develop schemes that produced a return to investors and its shareholders, he said.

Other Westfield schemes – including the one at Shepherd’s Bush in London, which opened in 2008 and another at the London 2012 Olympics site, which is due to open ahead of schedule next September – had gone ahead because of special circumstances.

He revealed Westfield was also considering redesigning the Bradford scheme as well as looking at the possibility of a phased development. It was also seeking investors to plug the funding gap for the scheme.

He said: “We recognise the importance of this scheme to Bradford’s pride and to the city’s economic future. You don’t want a hole in the ground and we don’t want one either.

“There has to be a solution somewhere and we’ll crack every nut to find a way forward.”

He reiterated that Westfield had already invested nearly £90 million in the Broadway scheme and would continue to monitor the feasibility of progressing the development.

Mr Miller, who was accompanied by another Westfield director, Duncan Bower, said while there had been a recovery in high street spending as consumers tried to beat the rise in VAT next January, 2011 would be a difficult year with tax rises and job losses following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review. He did not expect confidence to start returning until 2012.

“The outlook at the moment is best described as a mood of cautious optimism. Things are getting better for many retailers, but the spending review has sent a chill through the spines of many.

“In Bradford the Council is facing cuts of 30 per cent and that will mean job losses, so we must remain cautious about retail prospects,” said Mr Miller.

Tony Reeves, Bradford Council’s chief executive, pledged to maintain close contact with Westfield and jointly assess ways to ensure the mall is built.

He said: “If we reach the point where we don’t believe that Westfield can deliver this scheme then we’ll take the appropriate action. But that is not the case now.”

He said that while options to change the proposed scheme would be considered, the Council did not want an out-of-town shopping development to the detriment of the city centre and the Broadway scheme had to fit in with the overall regeneration plans for the city.

Mr Reeves said he wanted Bradford to be one of the first cities to benefit from the proposed tax-increment financing scheme designed to allow councils to fund development by borrowing against future business rate income. He said it could be a way of helping to push the Westfield scheme forward.