Intu under pressure to start Broadmarsh scheme
INTU Properties, owner of Nottingham's Broadmarsh Centre, is coming under strong pressure from the city council to commit to a start date for its refurbishment.
The company, which also owns the Victoria Centre, has phased its redevelopment between 2016 and 2019.
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Concerns: Graham Chapman outside Nottingham Train Station. The Broadmarsh Centre is one of the first things visitors see.
But it also wants a planning consent for an extension to the Victoria Shopping Centre – which the local authority is reluctant to approve until work begins on improving the Broadmarsh.
The council also believes the planning application needs updating and made more relevant now that Intu Properties owns both shopping centres.
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Both sides are putting pressure on the other.
The city council said it does not want to be in the position where work goes ahead on the 500,000 sq ft extension to Victoria Centre before a start is made on the Broadmarsh.
Its worst fears are that Intu does nothing with Broadmarsh, which is significantly empty and straddles the main approach between the railway station and the Old Market Square.
Intu is similarly getting impatient because it wants a consent which both bolsters its balance sheet and allows it to proceed when the economic climate is right.
On Wednesday, Intu chief operating officer Mike Butterworth said that it was going ahead with the refurbishment of Victoria Centre and couldn't wait any longer because its investment continued to need new, quality tenants to support the value.
Intu, formerly Capital Shopping Centres, submitted an application to extend Victoria Centre two years ago, since when it has not been taken forward.
The city council is anxious that the plans for the Victoria Centre extension are updated now the two centres are not in competition.
Graham Chapman, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, says he wants to see both the extension of Victoria Centre and the refurbishment of Broadmarsh go ahead.
"We need Intu to do it almost simultaneously or in a way that they are going to do both," he said.
"Intu want to develop the existing scheme on Victoria Centre and we want reassurances that Broadmarsh will happen as well.
"We need a contractual agreement that Intu are going to do Broadmarsh and we will work with them on a complementary scheme for Victoria Centre reflecting their ownership of Broadmarsh. We would be happy to see things going on simultaneously.
"What we really want to see are some bulldozers on Broadmarsh. I want to see some action, people in yellow jackets building stuff."
Earlier this week Mr Butterworth told the Post: "We won't embark on the Victoria Centre extension until we have started the Broadmarsh redevelopment.
"But we need certainty around the city council's position on the extension of the Victoria Centre, subject to whatever conditions it might like on the land.
"We will not implement it until we have dealt with Broadmarsh."
He added: "We have said all along that we do not want a solution for the Broadmarsh Centre or Victoria Centre in isolation.
"We want a solution which is for Nottingham city centre and which embraces both of them and ideally everything in between so there is a comprehensive plan.
"What is not acceptable is that someone else cherry-picks what we are allowed to do.
"We need to be able to know we have the commitment of the council to be able to embrace the whole. We are not getting that."
6 Comments
by D99WR
Saturday, March 02 2013, 9:28AM
“Repeat of Westfield v Council....look where that ended up.”
by treacle10
Friday, March 01 2013, 6:28PM
“its an eyesore and needs redeveloping not refurbishing. with the potential new college site nearby and freeing up of the old site by the castle , along with station/tram etc we have a once in a generation opportunity to transform the city centre into something special. lets hope its not missed or wasted!”
by disciple4d
Friday, March 01 2013, 5:18PM
“Paul, I wonder if that is actually their intention - just suck as much as they can out of it in cheap rents from ever expanding number of pound shops, as that's how they see shopping centres going in the next few years?
The thing is - if it's a nice shopping centre, people want to go there, and the numbers of shoppers increase. If it's a total dive, then no one goes there, the rents drop, and the owners make less money off it. It's no use expecting people to magically start coming back there, without any investment. It appears as if that's what they've been hoping for - waiting for the numbers to pick up before they start investing. It just isn't going to happen though.
Anyhow, the land might be valuable, but it seems Westfield couldn't get rid of it quick enough, instead of actually doing anything to it.
Make it nice, put some upmarket stores there, a few fancy bar/restaurants in, and people will start going back. Just like they did at the Cornerhouse and the waterfront development when they first arrived.”
by paul0909
Friday, March 01 2013, 3:53PM
“Sadly disciple4d thats not how planning works legally. Does Victoria Centre really need to be expanded. A lick of paint yes, but really the effort needs to be put into Broadmarsh, and sooner rather than later. We cant wait till 2016 for work to start. Its a shame we as Nottingham citizens can't have a say in what we would like to do with the site. We've had to put up with the hideous building for years, and will have to put up with whatever replaces it. Sadly I imagine Intu will only care about how much money they can make out of the land.”
by disciple4d
Friday, March 01 2013, 2:26PM
“*sigh* How depressing, both sides apparently want the same thing but can't reach an agreement.
It would be simple if the council just said, 'you have planning permission to extend Victoria Centre, so long as Broadmarsh plans are submitted, and construction begins therebefore Victoria Centre'. That's as complicated as it needs to be really. Then everyone gets what they want.
Broadmarsh has needed redevelopment since I was born, and I'm 31 now...
Victoria Centre may attract more shoppers, but it's not really surprising, given the current state of Broadmarsh!”
by garrettman
Friday, March 01 2013, 9:59AM
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!”