A few weeks ago Nottingham City Council made an announcement that they were putting money into the Broadmarsh redevelopment – in an effort to start the stalled redevelopment plans. I blogged about it (and penguins) here.
We once had a dream of a first class retail offer … now long gone.
And what do Intu say about this? Well, not a lot.
Their website contains an Autumn Statement which makes no reference at all to Broadmarsh – but does focus on the other one…
And their website is equally vague, “Nottingham is an exciting development opportunity and intu has plans that will extend and upgrade both intu Victoria Centre and intu Broadmarsh, bringing new brands, restaurants and leisure spaces to re-establish Nottingham’s status as the top shopping destination in the Midlands.“
The latter is hardly “news”.
I do believe that there is an agreement in place with the City, but I don’t believe it contains any dates. So although the intent is commendable the commercial reality is that there is no certainty at this time. And there is little we can do. The Broadmarsh remains a stain on the City.
Soon we will have an improved Station and Tram system. It’s a pity that they stop near the place. There is little to celebrate about this lump of concrete and bricks.
Broadmarsh sits on what was known as Drury Hill – which was the main street where the poorest residents of Nottingham once lived in Nottingham’s smelliest slum, Narrow Marsh. Funny how some things never change?
My guess is that if the works is complete in five years time Nottingham will have done well.