Quite simply, The Channel is one of the most ambitious schemes attempted in Bradford for decades. It reintroduces the Bradford Canal to the heart of the city, creating waterside living in a canal-side village and exciting new parks and recreational spaces.

This village will comprise homes, live-work studios and a range of local retail facilities, café/bars and restaurants. The canal-side could host a wide variety of sports and activities. The ‘park in the city’ concept is extended with green open space and planting being key elements, creating an engaging environment for day and night, work and play.

Approaching the city centre, Forster Square Retail Park and Station will be developed alongside the substantial new and high quality shopping centre Broadway. This innovative complex is being developed by Westfield, the world’s largest shopping centre developer, and will also contain residential developments and leisure facilities. Its aim is to reposition Bradford in the region’s retail hierarchy.

The Channel also includes improvements in the public realm in Little Germany, Gatehaus and Festival Square. The conversion of derelict Eastbrook Hall into 73 apartments and the £30m Cathedral Quarter Townhouse development brings ‘city living’ to Bradford.

Major Projects within The Channel:

• Channel Urban Village – A dramatic new mixed-use residential development surrounding the Bradford canal alongside an innovative Channel Linear Park. Download ‘Rebirth of the Bradford Canal’ for more information.
  
• Broadway Shopping Centre – Westfield's new £320 million shopping centre will once again make Bradford one of the region’s premier retail destinations. 
  
• Festival Square, Little Germany – The re-development of this public square will focus on a new active centre for Little Germany and encourage a more sustainable community by creating more street level activity with opportunities for cafes, bars and restaurants.
  
• Forster Square Railway Station – This project highlights the potential for an iconic landmark building as the gateway to the city centre with development in and around the busy station for retail, offices and residential schemes. This incorporates a new pedestrian link between Broadway Shopping Centre/Channel Urban Village and the existing retail core.
  
• Cathedral Quarter Urban Village – Comprising apartments and townhouses close to the primary school in a relatively quiet and pleasant location, this development provides the ideal location for families in the city centre. The potential for Bradford Cathedral to be discovered as a pedestrian route to the city’s facilities will be developed, linking the residential, retail and heritage of Bradford.