Broad Street Mall

Broad Street Mall, previously known as the Butts Centre, is a large indoor shopping centre located in central Reading, England. There is a large multi-storey car park with direct access to the first floor of the centre. It is close to The Hexagon theatre and the offices of Reading Borough Council.

Broad Street Mall
LocationReading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Coordinates51.454719°N 0.976174°W / 51.454719; -0.976174
Opening date1971 (1971)
DeveloperMoorgarth
ManagementSteven Connolly
OwnerInception Reading SARL (2015)[1]
No. of stores and services77
No. of anchor tenantsWilko, Reading Biscuit Factory & TK Maxx
Total retail floor area475,902 sq ft (44,212.7 m2)
No. of floors2
Parking720 total spaces
18 disabled bays
Websitewww.broadstreetmall.com

History

Plans for the shopping centre were made by the Reading Borough Council in 1956, however it took more than a decade to find a suitable site and buy it.[2] The centre was originally known as the Butts Centre, and was named after the adjacent St Mary's Butts. The current name relates to Reading's principal pedestrian shopping street, Broad Street, and the centre is situated at the west end of the street. It was opened in 1971. The centre was purchased by Doughty Hanson & Co in June 2001 and sold in March 2004.[3] During this period they implemented a business strategy to update and refurbish the shopping centre to modern standards.[3] During this time footfall increased 50% and net operating profits increased 38%.[3]

Shops
Broad Street Mall across the crossroads, showing bow and arrow symbols on fence.
The car park from above The Hexagon

Below are occupiers of the centre classified as strong covenants

Residential

In November 2018, plans were submitted to the Reading Borough Council for 530 residential flats in the Broad Street Mall development, however in 2019, Inception Reading resubmitted new plans for "493 flats in three buildings, one of which would be on top of the shopping centre".[4] The two other towers will consist of one being 5 storeys and the second being 22 storeys subject to planning permission not changing.[4]

Other facilities

There are public toilets a Post Office and a NHS walk-in health centre.[5] In 2019, the walk-in centre was expanded due to its busy nature with £505,000 of funding from the NHS.[6] In September 2020, Co-Space Reading opened at Broad St. Mall which offers a flexible and spacious working environment for local businesses. There are 15 fully furnished office suites available to rent, ranging from between 4, 6 and 10 person, up to 50+ person spaces.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Home - Moorgarth". Moorgarth.
  2. Reading, past and present, Stuart Hylton. p.49
  3. "Home". www.doughtyhanson.com.
  4. Fort, Hugh (1 March 2019). "Eye-catching new plans revealed for Broad Street Mall homes". Get Reading. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  5. "Reading Walk-In Health Centre". www.readingwalkinhealthcentre.nhs.uk.
  6. Adams, Luke (28 February 2019). "The walk-in centre at Broad Street Mall has been extended and revamped thanks to £505k in funding". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. "Community office on track to open in September". Reading Chronicle.
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