The shopping centre was built in the early 1970s in an area that was historically boggy ground, on the outskirts of the medieval town. It was once occupied by the Franciscan Friary known as Greyfriars, Nottingham, which was dissolved in 1539. The area was cleared of all buildings to accommodate the new shopping centre. During preparation of the site, many caves and cellars dug into the soft sandstone foundations of the city were rediscovered. The caves were to be destroyed as part of the construction, but activism by residents and historians allowed the caves to be preserved. The caves were excavated by staff from the Nottingham City Council's museums service and local history enthusiasts. Some are now open to the public as part of the City of Caves museum beneath the shopping centre and are protected as a Scheduled Monument. The centre, which opened to the public in 1975, was originally intended to be an Arndale Centre, and the associated parking structure – once voted the "ugliest building in Nottingham" – is still known as the Arndale Car Park. The centre underwent a major cosmetic refurbishment in 1988.
Redevelopment
Nottingham City Council, owners of the leasehold on the centre, have been attempting to encourage development at Broadmarsh for "almost two decades". Their 2002 development brief called for a development that "respects the urban grain of the City Centre, with clear streets and urban blocks of buildings to provide for legibility, separate identity and future flexibility" with a clear north–south route linking Nottingham's Old Market Square and railway station, stating, "This route must take the form of a pedestrianised public street." In November 2002, plans to demolish the existing shopping centre, car park, and adjoining Broadmarsh bus station were approved. In April 2007, a plan nearly identical to that proposed in 2002 was approved. The three-year redevelopment plan would have involved the demolition of much of the centre, the car park, and the adjoining bus station. In November 2011, it was announced that Capital Shopping Centres, owners of the Victoria Shopping Centre, just north of the city centre, had bought Westfield's stake in Broadmarsh. The purchase prompted an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission, which was concerned the company's monopoly over the city's shopping centres could negatively impact competition. In February 2013, CSC changed its name to Intu Properties plc. The new owners wished to start an already planned development of the Victoria Centre, but Nottingham City Council insisted that Broadmarsh must be their "priority" and offered £50 million towards its redevelopment. The deputy leader of Nottingham City Council said the council would withhold planning permission for the development of the Victoria Centre until they "see bulldozers going into the Broadmarsh Centre". A new plan for a limited redevelopment of some of the centre received planning approval in June 2015. The plans include the retention of most of the fabric of the 1970s' mall and existing tenants, including Boots, Wilko's, and BrightHouse, with some cosmetic updating. A nine-screen cinema will be constructed at a remodelled south-eastern corner, along with new leisure and restaurant spaces. Drury Walk will be rebuilt as "Bridlesmith Square", providing a new area outside intu Broadmarsh, targeted at upmarket brands. Counter to the 2002 Development Brief, the new walkway between the city centre and station will be within the existing enclosed shopping mall, under a new glass roof. Construction company Sir Robert McAlpine were given the contract to start work on the long-awaited redevelopment of the centre with phased demolition of the Broadmarsh centre starting in October 2019 Due to the COVID-19_pandemic, redevelopment work was halted in March 2020. Despite a relaxation of rules allowing construction projects to continue, contractors failed to return to the site in May 2020. with equipment and scaffolding being removed in June 2020, and the centre being closed by Intu citing safety concerns. In June 2020, work was halted due to the owners Intu Properties going into administration. By early July 2020 the part-demolished shopping centre had closed and the site was handed back to the freeholders, Nottingham City Council.
City Hub
A 2017 plan to redevelop the adjacent land along Canal Street, for the benefit of Nottingham College, was approved. Work started on the £58m City Hub in 2018. It is a six-storey building designed by Sheffield-based architecture firm Bond Bryan. It is being constructed by Wates and will incidentally provide training and employment opportunities including 24 work placements, 16 new jobs, 13 apprentice placements and training for 11 NVQs.
