Bradford’s newest retail and leisure scheme is to get the royal seal of approval next month (June 2017).
Sunbridge Wells is to be officially opened by Princess Anne on 28 June, just five days after the developer of the project speaks to a Chamber audience. The underground scheme opened in December 2016, with bars and retailers, and there is nothing else like it in the city. A second phase is due to open later this year.
Sunbridge Wells can be accessed from the rear of Centenary Square (behind Lloyds No 1 bar), Sunbridge Road and Upper Millergate (between Ivegate and Sunbridge Road). The developer, Graham Hall, will speak at the Chamber Property Lunch in Bradford on Friday 23 June, revealing the trials and tribulations he had bringing the project to fruition.
Graham Hall said: “As you can imagine, this is a truly historic day for Sunbridge Wells and Bradford. There is a good buzz here that Princess Anne is visiting. This could put us on the map. We will give her a tour of the development and she is expected to be here for an hour. It has gone really well in its first six months.”
Sunbridgewells’ second phase, with an entrance on Ivegate, includes the Rose & Crown pub. An original wooden sign for the Rose & Crown Inn, dating back to the 1870s, was found during work to create the underground complex. The sign, hand-painted by Bradford artist Thomas Forrest, was found in a loft last year.
Phase two was originally expected to include a second site for The International restaurant, based in Morley Street. A vacant unit, previously a Toni & Guy hair salon, was to have been converted into a 60-seater restaurant. But those plans were revised.
The complex’s first phase includes bars and 14 shops, selling goods including sweets, coffee and women’s fashion. More shops are due to open later this year, when five lockable stalls begin trading.
