A brief comment on the former Bradford Odeon

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As the echoing sounds of "I told you so" bounce off the buildings around City Park, thoughts turn to the future of the Odeon now that Langtree - the developer with a permission to knock it down to build flats and offices - has decided to scuttle away from Bradford with its tail firmly between its hind legs.

First a little correction of this statement from Dave Green, the Council leader:

...given the current financial situation and funding cuts to the Council, the authority had no money to buy the building from the HCA.

I'm not saying the Council should hand over cash to the HCA for the building but, unless its value has sky-rocketed overnight, Bradford Council does have the resources to make such a purchase. The Council has £180 million in reserves after all.

I have said before that the solution lies with a local initiative rather than some white knight galloping into town upon a great charger waving plans for...well I don't know what. However, the City needs a new central library, the West Yorkshire Pension Fund needs better offices and, even after restructure, the Council still has staff littered across the District. These opportunities - and perhaps others - should be put on the table rather than left in the vague 'the Council will do everything to assist'. There's perhaps a discussion to be has with the Science Museums who have the wonderful Media Museum next door?

Finally the structural reports on the building suggest that any development that preserves all or part of the building will only come about if there is public 'investment' (this is the Gordon Brown definition of 'investment' - esssentially subsidy). The Council and HCA need to be prepared to discuss this sort of intervention. The rescuing of Manningham Mills required English Heritage funding and there was a significant grant element in the spending from other bodies including the Council. We should be prepared now to adopt the same approach to the Odeon.

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Saving the Odeon? Well perhaps...

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A statement from Bradford Conservative Group:

“Right now the Council needs to look at a new Central Library, new offices for the West Yorkshire Pension Fund and other accommodation. The new City Park makes the location more appealing and there seems to be some new developer interest.”

“We can’t afford to shuttle from meetings with Langtree – the last remaining bit of the developer joint venture – to the Homes & Communities Agency trying to get an undeliverable development out of the ground.”

Full piece is on the Bradford Conservatives website.

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Sutcliffe's Guide to Ministerial Ignorance: No. 1 - The Odeon

Gerry Sutcliffe, Sports Minister and Bradford MP has vaulted onto the Odeon bandwagon in his usual opportunistic and just slightly ignorant manner. It all sounds good with calls for penalty clauses, pre-lets and other exciting controls over the redevelopment of a GOVERNMENT-OWNED building.

This is the same Gerry Sutcliffe who, when leader of Bradford Council signed up to the disastrous superdome proposals for Odsal.

This is the same Gerry Sutcliffe who failed to persuade his mate John Prescott to allow the Sterling Capital development at Odsal to proceed.

And this is the same Gerry Sutcliffe who did everything he could to scupper a subsequent Odsal development that involved some changes at Horsfall Stadium half a mile away.

Now how do we put this so Gerry might understand?

You can't make someone develop a site unless they want to build. Developers will not sign up to penalty clauses - why should they, they're not contractors - and will need planning permission in order to negotiate any pre-lets. We can't make them build a white elephant, Gerry.

Odeon - we can't leave it to just seven councillors!

I've passed comment on proposals to redevelop the former Odeon before - I'm no proponent of the existing building or the new proposals. But there's a bigger issue - we (and by that I mean Bradford's 90 Councillors) can't just let the seven councillors on the Regulatory & Appeals Committee decide the former Odeon's fate. This is not just a difficult decision but a decision that we all will be held to account for whether we had any part in it or not.

I'm not a lawyer or a constitutionalist but there has to be a way for all of us - at full council - to debate this decision. That must be better than leaving it to a technical committee to make a decision based on technical considerations. Bradford people want to see us discuss this -the time has come to do so!

New Victoria - the real question is "will it ever get built"?

Langtree Artisan have issued a new set of designs for the building to replace the empty, sad and semi-derelict former Odeon building in Bradford City centre. As with previous proposals there are sharply divided opinions between the very vocal and well organised Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) and the more quietly expressed views of what we might call Bradford's "establishment". I am not planning to enter this debate - although I will note that no opposition to demolition was raised when the previous private owners sought to build a night club, restaurants and bars on the site.

What I am concerned with is the prospects for the development - indeed any development. It is not simply that the current development market isn't delivering these types of multi-use developments but that the continued controversy acts to put off investors and lenders as well as undermining the interest of potential end users. More importantly, a scheme predicated on hotel and residential use raises significant doubts in my mind about deliverability. There are too many schemes - not just in Bradford - that await some mythic market shift so as to begin. In truth - and I hope those clever folk at Langtree Artisan can prove me wrong - the economics of this type of development simply don't stack up. Unless of course there's a copper bottomed hotel end-user already lined up! And do we really want more city centre apartments that don't sell?

The Odeon remains the big millstone round the neck of Bradford's regeneration - we are allowing the continuing argument about its future to disrupt the creation of a sensible approach that recognises the emerging role of city centres as places of leisure and pleasure rather than locations for commerce and shopping. The proposed scheme - now on-line - remains rather uninspiring, rather dated and chasing a past vision of the City.