Is the Citygate scheme on Manchester Road right to reach for the sky?

Or will it be the biggest white elephant since the opening of Wardley House in the mid-1970s, a building that remained largely unoccupied until the creation of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television – now the National Media Museum – in the mid-1980s?

Public opinion seems to be evenly divided, judging by some of the responses on the T&A website. Bradford already has lots of empty flats, but Citygate might encourage other developers, such as Westfield, to get a move on.

It comes down to whether the property market is likely to be buoyant enough in future to support 224 new apartments in two blocks, even on a brownfield site. The York-based Skelwith Group, the company that Citygate is the brainchild of, think so. They are proposing to spend £30m erecting the flats, starting next year,with a completion date in 2013.

Paul Ellis, managing director of the group, said: “Most importantly, we feel this can be delivered at the right price to be successful. Not only that, we feel the development adds to what is already a vibrant and exciting city and is paving the way for further developments in and around the centre of Bradford.”

Andrew Mason, chairman of the Bradford Property Forum, welcomed the proposal, but on a number of provisos.

He said: “Citygate is a good idea. In Bradford we have the demand; we have a rising population. Has Bradford got a glut of empty apartments? No. All the ones in Little Germany and Goitside have gone.

“From a transport and sustainability point of view, Citygate is superb. But it depends if it is built for people to live in or as a property investment – that’s what happened in Leeds and they had a lot of extra supply. All that has now been taken up.

“Providing they get the space awareness correct – if they provide utility rooms and storage for suitcases – if the management of the property is right after it’s built, then Citygate will be an asset.

“It doesn’t need to be iconic. Let’s make it solid and sound-proof. You won’t get a habitation certificate unless Building Control gives you a noise transmission and attenuation certificate. We’re streets ahead of where we were ten years ago.”

Bradford Civic Society would prefer Bradford’s regeneration to be driven by a cross-city rail link and the saving and conversion of the Odeon building. However, chairman Alan Hall said he wasn’t going to pour cold water on the Citygate plan.

He said: “Anything that acts as a stimulus is going to be a good thing. But it’s not our first choice as a civic society because there’s still a lot of scope for redeveloping the Victorian and Edwardian buildings we’ve got.

“At least part of Bradford’s heritage is not going to be pulled down, so you’ve got to be positive about it.

“Everything that’s done like this is a bit speculative; but at least people are taking a risk. A bit of risk-taking to get things going is not a bad thing.”

As the politician in charge of regeneration, Councillor David Green has to answer to the public for the success or failure of schemes like Citygate. What does he say to sceptics who maintain Bradford already has enough flats and apartments?

He said: “The idea of getting people to live in the city centre started out in Keighley 15 years ago. Living Over The Shops was quite successful there; but in Bradford we didn’t get the balance right between residential and commercial. Now there are a lot of empty properties.

“We have a lot of single and transient people in the city centre, and that hasn’t created what was originally envisaged – couples and families, which would have made for a happier, safer city centre neighbourhood.”

He hopes Citygate, though another residential development, will tip the balance away from buy-to-rent and bring some demographic stability to central Bradford.

“It’s in the Bradford Trident regeneration area. Hopefully that will make it more likely that what is developed on the site is high-quality and in tune with the local community,” he added.