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Andrew Mason, joint founder of Newmason Properties, is widely regarded as one of the most energetic, enthusiastic and innovative developers around. The company is busy on a £70m scheme to convert Victoria Mills, a 130 year old former worsted mill next to Salts Mill, into apartments and add a series of futuristic modern structures.
"Bradford is a fabulous place to do business and it's set for a glorious ten years", he stresses. "The reason we've stayed in the area is because of the support we've had from Bradford Council and the planners" .
"And it's been an unmitigated success. There's a caucus of very committed property developers in Bradford who are all on good terms. I can pick up the phone to Gawthorpe at Urban Splash or James Robinson at Magellan".
Newmason nailed its credentials to the mast shortly after its formation in 2002 by carrying out the Byron Halls development in the unfashionable Barkerend area adjacent to the city centre. Property values rose 25% in six months there.
"Byron Halls was very pioneering and very successful in delivering high-quality in what was still a Single Regeneration Budget area", says Mason.
Bradford, he believes, compares well to Leeds and surpasses it in cultural diversity and its varied heritage ranging from the Five Rise Locks to Bronte country.
"It's taken Leeds 25 years to drag itself up. Years ago you wouldn't go under the Dark Arches or near the river with dead dogs floating around in it", says Mason.
"Bradford has had a slippery slope of decline for 20 years but the ascendancy will be greater than the decline. There's no way it can't happen because critical mass has been achieved. We do it because we believe it will happen. We're moving it forward and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy".
Information courtesy of Yorkshire Business Insider
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